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Lightdox Welcomes on Board ‘NORTH CIRCULAR’ by Luke McManus

We are thrilled to share the news of our latest acquisition – NORTH CIRCULAR by Luke McManus, a documentary musical traveling the length of Dublin’s fabled North Circular Road evoking narratives from the history of the city and nation through folk songs and personal testimonies from the iconic area’s inhabitants. 

Luke McManus’ directorial debut celebrated the International Premiere at Sheffield DocFest to a sold-out theater and live traditional music performance by Colman Furey, Sally Gay and Brian Gilmer. The World Premiere was at Dublin International Film Festival 2022, where it was awarded a Special Mention in the Documentary Competition.

Photos from the Premiere at Sheffield, credits: Luke McManus

In this melodic black and white postcard, the audience travels along Dublin’s North Circular Road and meets some of the area’s enigmatic inhabitants. Told in black and white 4:3 Academy ratio, the film evokes many narratives from the history of the city and nation, from colonialism to mental health, to the struggle for women’s liberation while also engaging with urgent issues of today, including the battle to save the legendary Cobblestone Pub, centre of Dublin’s recent folk revival, from destruction at the hands of cynical property developers. 

The film also includes musical performances from artists local to the North Circular, including John Francis Flynn, Séan Ó Túama, Eoghan O’Ceannabháin, Ian Lynch & Gemma Dunleavy.

Anna Berthollet, founder and CEO of Lightdox, comments: “Visually and sonically striking, we were absolutely captivated by Luke McManus’ beautiful directorial debut from the first glimpse. North Circular is a film that shines such depth and complexity on bigger subjects like gentrification, community and history through touching personal stories, creating a love letter to this iconic place which has a turbulent history as well as present. We are thrilled to come on board and welcome the film to our lineup where we think it fits perfectly.”

NORTH CIRCULAR is a Reel Art film, produced by Elaine Gallagher and Luke McManus of Madhouse Films, funded by the Arts Council/An Comhairle Ealaíon. 

We celebrated another International Premiere at Sheffield with Céline Pernet’s MAN CAVES (GARÇONNIÈRES)! And premiering for the UK, NO PLACE FOR YOU IN OUR TOWN by Nikolay Stefanov.