Anna Rodgers is an award-winning film director and producer - her recent RTÉ Storyland drama Grace is nominated for Best Short Film at this year's Royal Television Society Awards.
The film tells the story of a young woman with Down Syndrome (played by debut actress Fiadhnait Canning) as she pushes to make her own decisions. Its international premiere is at the Oscar-qualifying festival Cleveland International Film Festival on April 12th - watch Grace now via RTÉ Player.
We asked Anna for her choice cultural picks...
FILM
I went to Paul Rowley’s defiantly punk and personal documentary Gays Against Guns at Dublin International Film Festival, which is very brave work in the current American climate. It reminded me of how I felt when I first watched Bowling for Columbine. Igor Bezinović’s film Fiume O Morto is a really original restaging of the fascist occupation of the Croatian city of Rijeka. It’s totally bizarre and a brilliant performative documentary that pushes the boundaries of the genre. It recently won the European Film Award for Best Documentary.
As with all good docs, it’s hard to find a way to see it but worth tracking down. Alan Gilsenan has a retrospective in the IFI coming up after a really prolific career. It includes the first series I ever worked on with him now twenty years ago – The Asylum, set in St. Ita’s Psychiatric Hospital - which I’ve been thinking a lot about lately as we discuss mental health care in Ireland since the move from these institutions to the community and all the problems that have remained unresolved since.
MUSIC
I’m listening to the flamenco pop album Lux by Rosalía. It’s dreamy and cinematic, crossing so many musical genres. Björk collaborates with her on the track Berghain. Their performance at the Brit Awards earlier this year was awesome.
BOOK
Blood and Water is the debut novel from Cork writer Rebecca Murphy, and I can't stop thinking about it. It’s such an intense story about a crumbling lesbian marriage, a family secret and the aftermath of grief. I’ve really got pulled into the story now so look forward to discovering more. I’m also excited to read Home Economics by Caitriona Lally after her novel Eggshells, which I loved. This one is a memoir about her balancing her creative writing ambition with a cleaning job in Trinity, juggling pregnancy, her relationship and everything in between. The writer’s struggle with the economics of pursuing creativity versus taking higher-paying but less valued work is relatable, as is the question of what 'success' and 'failure' truly mean in the life of an artist and mother.
THEATRE
A while ago now but I adored the raucous deconstruction of Hamlet by a group of Peruvian actors with Down Syndrome which was performed at the Dublin Theatre Festival last year. It’s such a celebration of ability and a reminder of the importance of inclusion in the arts. What they achieved was incredible. Many of the audience took to the stage to dance with the cast at the end of the show including Irish actress Carrie Crowley. When I saw her joy with them I knew I had to cast her in our film Grace and I grabbed her to ask her as she came off stage. In the moment she said yes.
TV
Just caught up with season two of Am I Being Unreasonable? I love recommending it to people and seeing their reaction to it. It’s so funny and bizarre. It’s refreshing watching something that isn’t another procedural or formulaic drama. You’re laughing at it but also slightly on edge the whole time. It has the same energy as Baby Reindeer. Such an unusual and clever series.
I also loved The Task, which feels completely different. It’s a much quieter, more subtle drama with Mark Ruffalo and Irish actress Alison Oliver whose accent in this is incredible. I especially loved the episodes directed by Jeremiah Zagar. You could really tell when he was in the driving seat because of the gorgeous cinematic immersive moments with the characters. It’s not a high paced crime drama if that’s what you’re into. It turned into a complex moral story and quite a tear-jerker by the end. It has stayed with me.
GIG
As a working mother of two boys my weekends these days are for them so I’ve swapped late night gigs for packed afternoons. I really enjoyed getting involved in the musical storytelling of Jesse Grimes in the National Concert Hall at her 1001 Arabian Nights show. She has another performance of Prokofiev’s beloved Peter and the Wolf coming up complete with some shadow puppetry. As adults I think it’s great to be playful with your children at something like this. These shows are interactive and it isn’t so embarrassing when everyone around you is under 10. As an aside, I loved how Jesse Grimes blew Tommy Tiernan’s mind recently and brought the concept of queer family making with a non-binary partner into our living rooms.
ART
I’m a bit biased but I really enjoyed attending the opening of The Last Balkan Cowboy by Dragana Jurisić in the Temple Bar Gallery. The exhibition takes its title from her eponymous debut film which myself and my business partner Zlata Filipović are producing. Her photographs were made during our three cross-country trips throughout 2024-2025 in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia in between location scouting, research and filming. It’s a Wild West inspired cinematic series of images dedicated to the ghost of Jurisić’s homeland of former Yugoslavia and her tragic hero Hari Džekson who made eastern westerns. Look out for when it is on again with the film’s release.
PODCAST
I love podcasts which use documentary storytelling techniques to take us into different lives and worlds. I’m current listening to Flesh and Code, which is a really unsettling investigation into people’s need for human connection through AI companions and reveals a very dark side to this phenomenon and the businesses who profit from people’s loneliness.
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TECH
The truth is the camera I use most is my phone but I recently bit the bullet and got myself a Fuji X100VI. It’s expensive but I try not to let that stop me bringing it places. It fits in your pocket or a small bag. It looks like a retro analogue camera but it has a 40MP sensor and a fixed 23mm lens. The fixed focal length might limit some people but I love its simplicity. It also shoots video but for a cheaper option I recently got to try out a DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Creator Combo. It’s such a fun little camera and really easy to use. Great for making videos and home movies on the go, and records great sound with a separate radio mic that easily syncs to the unit. I think it’s one you’re likely to bring to things because of its compact size and also how fun it is to use!
THE NEXT BIG THING...
I’m looking forward to Kim Bartley’s debut drama feature after directing many great documentaries. It is starring Barry Keoghan and is called Lemonade.
