Film screening and discussion
At the end of spring 1981, 9-year-old Cáit is taken to live with distant relatives in the countryside. The taciturn girl is to spend the summer there without being a burden on her parents. Wearing only the clothes she has on, she moves into the well-kept country house, which is surrounded by an avenue of lush green trees. She does not know when or if she will return home.
The Kinsellas are hard-working farmers who have achieved modest prosperity. Eibhlín looks after Cáit carefully and lovingly, giving her a feeling of security and closeness. The relationship with Seán, the man of the house, is distant until he too lets the girl help him with the animals and slowly opens up to the quiet child.
In the Kinsellas' care, Cáit slowly blossoms and discovers a whole new life. But even in this house, where there could be something like love for her, there is a silence that feeds on the quiet but constant pain of its inhabitants. In the midst of this barren, beautiful Irish landscape lies a hidden secret, which Cáit sets out to discover with newfound courage and confidence.
THE QUIET GIRL is a quiet sensation in the cinema year. The first Irish-language film to be nominated for an Oscar, it is a gentle and deeply hopeful tale about people trying to leave pain and loneliness behind. In grand cinematic images saturated with vibrant colors, THE QUIET GIRL tells of how love and security create a shared space of speechlessness. A powerful and intense film of images about a humanity that unfolds beyond words.
Production: Cleona Ní Chrualaoi - Feature film 95 minutes - Ireland
