Oidhche Sheanchais
| Oidhche Sheanchais | |
|---|---|
Title card
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| Directed by | Robert J. Flaherty |
| Starring | Seáinín Tom Ó Dioráin Colman 'Tiger' King Maggie Dirrane Michael Dillane Patch 'Red Beard' Ruadh |
| Cinematography | Robert J. Flaherty |
| Edited by | John Goldman |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Gaumont British Distributors |
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Release date
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1935 |
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Running time
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11 minutes |
| Country | Irish Free State |
| Language | Irish |
Oidhche Sheanchais ([ˈiːçə ˈhan̪ˠxəʃ], "A Night of Storytelling"; variously given as The Storyteller, The Story Teller, Storyteller's Night, Night of Story-telling) is a 1935 Irish film directed by Robert J. Flaherty. It was produced during the sound recording session for his more famous docufiction film Man of Aran in London, and is notable as the first Irish language sync sound film.
Oidhche Sheanchais was filmed at Gaumont Studios.
Four islanders (the actual cast of Man of Aran) gather around the hearth to hear island seanchaí Seáinín Tom Ó Dioráin tell a traditional story.
The film opened in a small number of cinemas in Dublin, Cork and Galway on St. Patrick's Day in 1935. The press reaction was generally favourable with reviewers impressed by the seanchaí's performance. A critic from The Irish Times praised the film, although he did not understand Irish. But the public's reaction was one of apathy and it was withdrawn from general release after a week or two.
A fire was believed to have destroyed all copies in 1943, but a nitrate distribution print was discovered in 2013 in Harvard University's Houghton Library. A restored 35 mm version was premiered in 2015.
This version is only 11 minutes in length. Other records of a 20-minute version featuring exterior shots of the cottage appear to have been erroneous.
In November 2016, the film received its first ever television broadcast on TG4, Ireland's national language station. It was preceded by a 38 minute documentary called Oíche Chaillte an tSeanchaí (The Lost Night of the Storyteller). Directed by Kieran Concannon, this gave the background story of Oidhche Sheanchais.
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