Offaly-made documentary Closed For Lunch is due to have its premiere at Esker Arts on Wednesday 4th March at 7:30pm.

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This short film tells the personal stories behind Offaly’s peat industry through the lens of lunchtime- be it the craic and camaraderie of the canteen, or the simple pleasures of tea and sandwiches on the bog. It’s a tribute to a local industry, but also the now-dwindling lunch break in today’s era of supermarket sandwiches and pressured working days.

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The film interviews different generations of those closely involved with the peat industry, together with archive footage of the factories through the ages. It was produced by Offaly’s Mixed Bag Media as part of FilmOffaly’s Documentary Mentorship Scheme.

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The scheme saw a group of five local filmmakers receive training in documentary skills from IFTA-nominated filmmaker Garret Daly. After the workshops with Garret, the filmmakers worked together to produce Closed For Lunch themselves, taking on all the production roles and earning their first professional production credit while doing so. The film is a highly personal piece of Offaly history and there is a huge amount of quality and talent on display from the local filmmakers involved.

 

The film will be premiered alongside behind the scenes footage and a supporting documentary. There will also be a short Q&A with the filmmakers talking about their experiences on the project.

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Full details and booking information are available on the Esker Arts website at www.eskerarts.ie.