Here lie the fizzing fragments and flickering fossils of films gone by. The Homemade Cinema has wrangled shadows, danced with crayons, and whispered to cardboard creatures.
From wild weeds to identity dreams, each project hatched with curious hands and tangled thoughts.
Different topics, same magic: animation stitched from imagination and glue sticks.
In Spring 2024, ten children gathered at Staisiún Óige Ballinamore, clutching pencils, scissors, and stardust. They conjured a film—from Big Bang to bin truck—with animated myths, cosmic doodles, and prehistoric pigeons. Animator Fergal Brennan was their compass. Together they stitched time into motion, rewrote history with laughter, and made a thing so peculiar and brilliant it might just sprout wings and fly away.
Kindly supported by Youth Work Ireland (North Connaught), The MSLETB, Leitrim County Council, Creative Ireland & The Arts Council of Ireland
In 2023, a strange and brilliant thing happened. SMILY Youth Group in Sligo, full of bold thinkers and fierce dreamers, teamed up with writer Mary Branley and myself. We summoned animation to tackle mighty themes—identity, self-expression, and sparkles. Ideas burst like fireworks. Characters danced across screens. It was a scribbly, giggly, glittery ride. Stories took flight. Animation was our mirror, kaleidoscope, and secret portal.
Funded by Kids' Own Publishing Partnership
Collaborative Animation Workshop for teenagers
in July 2023, teenagers appeared—sketchbooks blazing, minds fizzing—with wild ideas and crooked pencils. At The Glens Centre, we conjured looping storyboards, character chaos, and time-bending tricks. Discussions boomed like tiny thunderclaps. Someone brought biscuits. Someone else coloured like a wizard. Phones blinked like stop-motion fairies.
The result? A film stitched from scribbles and sweat, showcased to applause. Their drawings leapt, laughed, and looped like they meant it.
Funded by Leitrim County Council & Creative Heartlands
A Collaborative Animation Workshop for Kids (with artist Brenda Kearney)
In Tallaght, weeds grew dreams. With Brenda Kearney, Hannah Mullan, and a tribe of curious kids, we followed petals and poked around in playground corners. Sorrel whispered secrets. Daisies sunbathed. Pencils scratched, crayons danced. Each plant portrait wriggled into life, one frame at a time. Then—zap!—an animation bloomed. The Civic Theatre will soon host this garden of wonders, where plants talk, wiggle, and sometimes giggle in leafy delight.
Funded by The Arts Council - 2023
