Tigerish Waters - Donegal inspires film
The idea for Tigerish Waters was born in Donegal whilst Director Lucy Campbell spent most summers with her family surfing the West Coast of Ireland. She was taken by how extreme the surfing was; so cold, wild and wintery as well as the beauty of the unspoilt landscape, the beaches so huge and empty, and the skies slate grey. She knew she wanted to develop a ghost story with this backdrop, and a film about young female surfers so she started to write a script based around these ideas.
Lucy made contact with Easkey Britton, Ireland's premiere female surfer and an international surfing star. It was from a discussion with her that she was put in touch with the writer, Soinbhe Lally, a Donegal playwright and novelist. Between them they started work on developing the script.
On graduating from a Filmmaking degree in Manchester in July 2012, Lucy teamed together with a small group of friends from her course who couldn’t wait to jump straight in to an exciting new project fresh from University where there were no rules, guidelines or drawbacks. Together they worked on finalizing the story and beginning the production process,
Over the next 6 months Lucy (Director), Leigh (Producer) and Paul (DOP) made several trips to Rossnowlagh in Co. Donegal to choose filming locations, carry out numerous acting workshops at the local schools and work on test shoots. Leading up to the shoot, with help from the set design and sound team they were able to really pull things together in preparation for filming week. For some it was their first time in Ireland, let alone Co. Donegal so the whole experience was exciting.
With the huge help of the local communities of Donegal, some hardworking friends and a huge amount of creativity and goodwill, the whole crew then set out to make Tigerish Waters on a shoestring budget with everyone working for expenses only.
The cast consists of students from Colaiste Cholmcille school in Bundoran with Meadb McCloskey as lead character Aoife, Maeve Liston as her sister Kat and a fantastic group of kids and local surfers including Barry Britton, the father of Easkey Britton as one of the ghosts.
Along with the much needed help of a further six friends who flew over from Manchester to make up the crew, the film was finally shot during a week in early March 2012.
Commenting on her experience of filming in Donegal Producer Leigh Hunter Dodsworth said:
'We feel privileged to have made a short film in such a beautiful part of the world and it was certainly an experience we will never forget. Thanks to everyone who was a part of it’.
More information on the film can be found by clicking below: