Wildfire.

WILDFIRE was nominated for 5 #IFTA awards this year (6 including Cathy Brady's Rising Star nomination!) and came home with 2 at the ceremony on July 4th - Best Director for Cathy and Best Actress - Film for the late, great Nika McGuigan, which was presented to her family. It was a beautiful tribute to the labour of love that is Wildfire, as well as an important honouring of the life & work of Nika McGuigan, who as well as being a magnificently talented actress, was also my friend. I know she's raising a glass of champagne - or perhaps a tequila-on-the-rocks - to us all now from her place among the stars. Cheers to you, Niks!

WILDFIRE had its first public screening in London's BFI on the summer solstice a fortnight ago, and I was lucky enough to be there to see it shown for the first time as it was meant to be seen - on the big screen.

I wanted to capture the magic of cinema again after so long being cooped up and confined to experiencing film through our laptops, so I brought my Zoom along to London and recorded the experience, in all its plush red velvet and surround-sound glory, live. I also managed to grab Cathy Brady and one of the film's co-leads, the IFTA nominated Nora-Jane Noone, afterwards for a chat. We talked about the long, challenging, and, at times, heartbreaking journey of this film from rehearsal room to screen, the magic of cinema, and what's coming next for the talented pair. Listen here!