Derry's Róise releases film in Gaeilge and Gàidhlig

As Seachtain na Gaeilge 2024 draws to a close, the exciting news has emerged a film directed by a former pupil of Derry’s Gaelscoil Éadain Mhóir is to premiere at the Toronto Irish Film Festival.

Written and directed by Róise Nic an Bheatha, Le Chéile (Together) is the world’s first narrative short film in Irish (Gaeilge) and Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig). 

Derry's Róise Nic an Bheatha who wrote and directed Le Chéile.

Exploring the themes of friendship, sectarianism, and language, Le Chéile will be screened in Toronto and Belfast’s On the Pulse Short Film on March 24 - where Róise has been shortlisted for the Young Filmmaker Competition.

Speaking to Derry News, Róise said she had written the script for Le Chéile three years ago.

She said: “I spent a long time trying to get it off the ground. Eventually, in May 2022, we filmed it in Glasgow, however, it took quite a lot of time to get it through post-production but it has finally been picked up by festivals which is great.”

Le Chéile will also be screened at Achill Island Film Festival (May 11), Ranelagh Film (May 13) and St Patrick’s and St Brigid’s Film Festival (London). It has also been nominated for two prizes in the Celtic Media Festival in Cardiff in June.

“The story follows two boys who have just been to a match and for some reason or other, they both end up on the same bus on the way home.

“It is tense at the start but the Gàidhlig speaker, who is a Rangers supporter, gets a call from his mum and his mum starts to speak to him in Gàidhlig. At the same time, the Irish Celtic supporter gets a call from his mum and he starts speaking in Gaeilge.

“What follows is them realising they speak a similar language and how language can bring people together.

“The inspiration for the story actually came from Derry. I went to Gaelscoil Éadain Mhóir and when we were in Primary Seven, Seamus Keenan, who is a phenomenal playwright from Derry, wrote a play for our class and our teacher translated it into Irish.

“Eventually we got some funding from Colmcille - a partnership between Foras na Gaeilge in Ireland and Bòrd na Gàidhlig in Scotland - to take the play to Scotland. So loads of kids from the Bogside and Creggan got taken to Glasgow and Edinburgh. 

“When we were in Glasgow, we were chatting away to the kids in the bunscoil there. 

“As soon as the topic of football came up, obviously everyone from Gaelscoil was big Celtic supporters and the kids in Glasgow, with parent’s from the Isle of Lewis and the Western Isles, were all big Rangers supporters.

“For a minute we were bonding over these minority languages and then football came on and we realised we were quite culturally different!

“That is where the idea for Le Chéile came from. I’ve sat with it for about 10 years now and finally did something with it.”

Also a former Oakgrove College pupil, Róise learned Gàidhlig when her family moved to Edinburgh when she was 15.

Róise’s mum is Christine Bell, who was a Law Professor at Ulster University, Magee. Her dad, Robbie McVeigh, is a researcher who has done work around sectarianism. 

“My parents loved the language and they sent us to Irish Medium schools,” explained Róise, whose siblings are: Muireann, Macha, Cathair, Laoise and Hiúdaí.

Le Chéile stars Belfast’s Sean McConville and Daibhidh Moireasdan from Edinburgh.