"Astonishing film and music" Film Director, Guy Maddin
"A beautiful meditation on grief and mother loss. Poetry for the senses. Resonant and deeply moving. Unexpected.
What a beautiful and artistic way to express the spoken word. The participants were so talented in their interpretations."
Dances With Films, Los Angeles
I have written and directed a Reel Arts Council of Ireland film which translates my memoir 'The Swimming Diaries' into an experimental and conceptual docufiction. The World premiere took place at the Dublin International Film Festival DIFF on 28 February 2024. The film is now listed on MUBI and this is an article for RTE I wrote about making the film. The Swimming Diaries soundtrack album was launched by Dharma records in June 2024 .
'This small book is exactly 25,000 words long. It corresponds to the 25,000 metres or strokes I swam during the month when my Mum was dying. After I had swum about 47 km I counted up all the words I had written during this difficult period. Approximately 43,000. I was amazed, as if each stroke had somehow translated into a word, excluding my rather long pushoffs. What was I trying to say? Did it really translate? Or is the swim itself perhaps impenetrable, untranslatable, in a language all of its own, one of water and muscle, energy and pain.'
• September 2025 Visiting Lecture at London Film School M.A. in Documentary Filmmaking programme and screening of The Swimming Diaries film
• August 2025 The Swimming Diaries (2024) wins two Impact DOCS Awards of Recognition - for Documentary Feature and Experimental Film
• 6 July 2025 The Swimming Diaries screens at Bradford Literature Festival National Museum of Science and Media, Cubby Broccoli Cinema
• 24 and 28th June 2025 I am discussing Ghost Empire § Mauritius-Chagos (2025) and The Swimming Diaries (2024) on BCB radio Bradford Listen back here at 4.45pm 24th June. I'll be live on the radio again on Saturday 28th June around 2.45pm broadcasting live from the heart of Bradford Literature Festival!
• April 2025 The Swimming Diaries screens at Irish Museum of Modern Art IMMA Living Canvas from April 24 - May 7 every day on a loop on the outdoor Living Canvas screen, with a special evening screening on May 1st until 8.30pm.
• April 2025 'No Dragons' film created from excerpts of The Swimming Diaries is screened at Modern Nature, Barbican, London in an interdisciplinary concert directed by James Dacre, and featuring Tilda Swinton, Jessie Buckley, Simon Fischer Turner, Donna McKevitt, Ollie Alexander, Nils Wanderer, Will Young.
• March 2025 The Swimming Diaries is selected for Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival industry market
• March 2025 The Swimming Diaries (2024) wins three Accolade awards - an Award of Merit for Cinematography, and Awards of Recognition for Original Score and Writing/Script
• January 2025 The Swimming Diaries (2024) wins two IndieFEST awards for Direction and Experimental Film
• October 2024 The Swimming Diaries (2024) is selected for two more film markets in addition to Visions du Reel - Ji.hlava Documentary Festival, Czech Republic, and AGORA film market, Thessaloniki Film Festival, Greece
• August 2024 - Water Holds Me Like A Lover - a film installation concert, a collaboration between myself and composer Donna McKevitt, which takes place at the Ramsgate WW2 tunnels for the Festival of Sound. This immersive film concert event will bring together live music from The Swimming Diaries (2024) soundtrack album, composed by McKevitt, as well as tracks from her earlier album, Translucence, based on Derek Jarman's writings. I've created a reimagined film installation with film excerpts from The Swimming Diaries (2024) film, and footage of Jarman's garden at Dungeness, which will be projected into the tunnels leading to the sea. Music will be performed by Donna McKevitt and sopranos Penelope Appleyard and Clare Stewart, both members of the critically acclaimed vocal ensemble Apollo 5, together with cellist Rosie Banks-Francis. Water Holds Me Like A Lover tickets here. This is a SOLD OUT event with extra standing tickets released.
• June 2024 The Swimming Diaries film is presented on BBC Radio 3 Night Tracks 'Music for a Darkling Hour' and the song, Go the Limits, from the film soundtrack is played. Listen back on the link at 15 minutes. The Swimming Diaries soundtrack album is launched this month
• May 2024 The first single from The Swimming Diaries soundtrack album is released - Go to the Limits by Donna McKevitt. The music video (which has already had 20,000 hits) I made for the track can be watched here.
• April 2024 The Swimming Diaries (2024) is selected for Visions du Reel marketplace VdR marketplace
• 2024 The Swimming Diaries (2024) launches to a fantastic audience response, the World premiere takes place at the Dublin International Film Festival DIFF
