Dead Man's Shoes, Dog Altogether and Paddy Considine

On Saturday afternoon, the IFI screened Shane Meadows' Dead Man's Shoes as part of the Darklight Film Festival. After the film was screened, we were shown Dog Altogether, directed by Dead Man's Shoes actor, Paddy Considine. Considine was on hand to answer a few questions about the film and his work in general. The screening was packed.

If you've read anything I've written about Shane Meadows, you'll know I'm a pretty big fan, and Dead Man's Shoes is an excellent film. The performances from Considine and Toby Kebbell are amazing and the script, co-written by Meadows and Considine is both funny and devastating. It's a great film. Dog Altogether, Considine's first outing as director is a Bafta winning short about a violent, angry man who is seaching for any shred of redemption. It's a dark watch, but features a brilliant central performance by Peter Mullan. Hopefully Considine continues to explore directing as well as acting.

As for what he has in store, Considine stated that he's currently exploring a film with Shane Meadows which he referred to as 'King of the Gypsies.' He didn't say much about it, but they're seeing about putting it into production next year. At the moment, Considine's concentrating on writing more than acting. He went on to explain that working with young directors was a mixed bag. While the directors certainly had visual flair, he found that their direction of the actors left something to be desired. So his decision to step behind the camera was driven by a desire to put what he had learned in front of the camera to good use. When asked by an audience member if he considered doing the bigger roles such as The Bourne Supremacy as 'selling out,' Considine quickly retorted that he'd sell out in a second, which resulted in laughter, clapping and cheering from the audience.

It was great to see Dead Man's Shoes on the big screen, and opportunities to see shorts are few and far between. Considine was very relaxed and open with the packed cinema and it was very interesting to see him speak about his work.

For more information on The Darklight Film Festival, check out http://www.darklight.ie/