Cathy Brady is a Northern-Ireland born film director and screenwriter. After directing several award-winning short films and some television episodes in the 2010s, she wrote and directed her first feature film, Wildfire in 2020.[1][2][3][4]

She studied visual arts at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) but became interested in film and transferred to the National Film School of Ireland to complete her degree. She has an MA in directing fiction from the National Film and Television School (NFTS).[2][5]

She grew up in Newry in Northern Ireland and lives in St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, England with her dachshund dog Betty. She chose to live in Sussex because she "didn't want to be typecast as an Irish film-maker".[3]

Selected filmography

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  • Small Change (2010, short)[6]
  • Rough Skin (2011, shown in Channel 4's Coming Up series)[7]
  • Kiss (2012, short)[6]
  • Morning (2012, short)[6]
  • Wasted (2013, short)[6]
  • Wildfire (2020, feature)[8][9]

Television work

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Awards

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Small Change (2010) won "Best first short by an Irish director" at the 2010 Cork International Film Festival (CIFF), "Best short film" at the Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF),[10] and "Best short film" at the IFTA Film & Drama Awards (IFTAs).[11] Morning (2012) won the "Best short film" IFTA, the "XX" award of the 2013 Underwire Film Festival[12] and the Prix UIP Cork (European Short Film) at the CIFF. Wasted competed at the 2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival.[6]

Wildfire won Brady the 2021 British Independent Film Award for Best Debut Screenwriter, and she was also nominated for British Independent Film Award – The Douglas Hickox Award for a debut director.[13] At the 2020 BFI London Film Festival she won the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award of £50,000, awarded to a first or second-time director.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Cathy Brady". www.bafta.org. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b Arnold, Lewis (25 July 2020). "Cathy Brady". Directors Now. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b Hardy, Jane (5 February 2022). "Weekend Q&A: Screenwriter and director Cathy Brady". The Irish News. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  4. ^ Brady, Tara (1 September 2021). "Director Cathy Brady: 'With Wildfire I was interested in the internal violence of women in the North'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Cathy Brady". pro.festivalscope.com. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Cathy Brady - Screen Directors Guild of Ireland". sdgi.ie. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Cathy Brady's 'Rough Skin' Airing on Channel 4". The Irish Film & Television Network. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Wildfire - Cathy Brady's highly anticipated first feature announced". www.channel4.com. Channel 4. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  9. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (2 September 2021). "Wildfire review – potent Irish drama about the legacy of violence". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Small Change". Irish Film Institute. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  11. ^ "Winners of the 8th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards 2011". www.ifta.ie. Irish Film & Television Academy. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Award Winners - Underwire Festival". 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015.
  13. ^ "Winners and Nominations · BIFA · British Independent Film Awards". BIFA · British Independent Film Awards. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Cathy Brady wins IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary". Northern Ireland Screen. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
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