A short film based on a Roddy Doyle short story has racked up nearly two million views on YouTube.
New Boy – adapted from a story in the Booker Prize winner’s collection The Deportees, itself based on tales written originally for Metro Éireann – has already won a number of awards at more than 20 international film festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival, the Manhattan Shorts International Film Festival and the Irish Film and Television Awards. It was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 2009.
The film tells the story of Joseph, a nine year-old African boy from a war-torn African country who becomes the centre of attention in his early days at school in Ireland. It also highlights his mixed experience of being black in an evolving multicultural Ireland.
As of press time, the film had attracted almost two million viewings over two separate postings on the video sharing website YouTube.
And much like the film, some of the reviews by YouTube viewers are inspiring. One viewer, Alsudanee, wrote: “Hey I am African war survivor studied in Ireland and now I am a brain surgeon in America, this movie is so real, Ireland is a great place and Irish are genuinely good people, thumb up for Ireland.”
Bcgeorge, another viewer, said: “This is the epitome of a great short film. As Forrest Gump would say, ‘I like it. I like it a lot.'”
Thesteelcitysoul added: “Reassuring to know there’s still a lot of talent out there. These shorts are so much better than most shite on TV in the UK/Ireland.”
The film was written and directed by Steph Green and produced by Tamara Anghie for Zanzibar Films.
Since the success of New Boy, Roddy Doyle has written many other stories exclusively for Metro Éireann. His latest, ‘Old Folks’, will be serialised from our next issue on 1 February.
