Tin Castle

Behind the guardrail of a road, on the outskirts of a village in Tipperary, Ireland, the O'Reilly family lives in a dilapidated trailer. Surrounded by the sound of laughing children and barking dogs, Pa' and Lisa brave the seasons with their ten children, faithful to the traditions of the nomadic Travellers. For generations, this community has clashed with bureaucratic rules and has a poor reputation among local residents. When eviction looms, their free way of life comes under threat, but the family refuses to leave. For an estate house doesn't have room for their horses, dogs and loud offspring. How much longer will their 'tin castle' remain standing? The carefully shot Tin Castle captures the raw poetry of this unconventional family's everyday life - full of chaos and a very strong bond between them. An intimate snapshot with a beautiful classical soundtrack, casting an empathetic light on a traditional culture under pressure.

Tin Castle is the second documentary by director Alexander Murphy; it premiered this spring in the Semaine de la Critique section at Cannes, where it competed for the Golden Eye award and received a Special Mention.