Room Taken is a moving film about survival and acceptance that has stuck with me vividly since my first viewing. Academy Award nominee Colin Farrell has recently boarded the Live Action Short contender as an Executive Producer.
Check out the official press release, the film’s trailer, and the exclusive Q&A below!
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Colin Farrell is joining the team behind the Oscar-qualified Irish short Room Taken as an executive producer. The film directed by TJ O’Grady-Peyton and produced by Colmán Mac Cionnaith won ‘Best Short Film’ at the 2024 Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) and the Gold Medal for Best Film at the Manhattan Short Film Festival, thereby qualifying it for the 2025 Academy Awards. Funded by Screen Ireland, the film is written by first time screenwriter Michael Whelan, and stars newcomer Gabriel Adewusi and the multi-nominated Olivier Award and Tony Award winning Bríd Brennan.
Room Taken follows Isaac, newly arrived in Ireland and looking for a place to stay, when he secretly moves into the home of Victoria, an elderly blind woman, leading them to form a unique bond.
“Room Taken’ is such a gentle cry to the power of human connection. It treats loneliness and grief and the struggle of the immigrant with such a gentle hand, bringing its character and narrative threads together beautifully. The film wears its compassion – along with its heart – on its sleeve with tender performances and a story that stayed with me long after viewing. For these reasons I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of helping Room Taken find as wide an audience as possible.” – Colin Farrell.
Colin currently stars in and executive produces HBO’s The Penguin and Apple TV+’s Sugar, which was picked up for a second season. His numerous film credits include Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Steve McQueen’s Widows. In 2023 he was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA, and SAG award and won a Golden Globe for his role in Martin McDonough’s film The Banshees of Inisherin.
TJ is an Irish filmmaker who first gained recognition at the Young Director Awards at Cannes in 2013. He has received awards at prestigious festivals, including the “Discovery Award” at the Dublin International Film Festival and the” Bingham Ray New Talent Award” at the Galway Film Fleadh. His films have been showcased at Tribeca, Clermont-Ferrand, BFI London, and on Disney+ and The New Yorker. His short film Wave won an Irish Film and Television Award in 2018 and Silence earned a nomination in 2021.
Colmán is a Dublin-based producer. Over the years, he has worked internationally on projects like the popular TV series Supergirl and the Nickelodeon series The Astronauts, produced by Ron Howard. Colmán works for Vico Films in Ireland as their in-house development producer, where he is currently engaged in producing and developing a wide range of feature films, TV series and short films. One of his most notable works as producer is Every Five Miles, a powerful movie directed by Oscar-nominated director Vincent Lambe.
Michael is a Senior Creative with a decade of experience in advertising, specialising in comedic and emotional storytelling. In 2016, he launched a powerful ‘Hidden Homeless’ campaign with St. Vincent de Paul, spotlighting Ireland’s housing crisis and showcasing his dedication to meaningful causes. This campaign, along with his personal connection to an elderly blind woman, inspired Michael to address social issues through storytelling, leading him to write his first screenplay, Room Taken, which won Best Screenplay at the 2024 Fastnet Film Festival.
Joining Emma Scott of Screen Ireland as EP’s are Sandro Monetti, Christopher Oakland, David Treatman of Grapevine Films and Cormac Fox of Vico Films.
