“Unaccompanied” is a new short fiction film shot by novelist and filmmaker Emer Martin (Breakfast in Babylon), stars Maria Hayden (Bloom, The Dead), and was produced by Niall McKay and the Media Factory. The movie features novelist Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) as a social worker who finds a traumatized young boy from Africa on the streets of Dublin. The film was produced by Niall McKay.
A young African boy who does not speak is found on the streets of Dublin. The authorities name him Danny and he comes under the care of Sarah, an over-worked social worker and single mother of two. Sarah and Danny form an ineffable bond, and she decides to foster him, but is shattered by his sudden disappearance.
There are currently 8,000 children who are labeled unaccompanied minors under the care of the Irish Health Board. Two hundred and fifty of them have disappeared since the year 2000. No one is looking for them. When recently an Irish child disappeared in Cork, a nationwide search was launched. Are there double standards at work here?
“Unaccompanied” tackles this complex subject through a fictional narrative, when in the blink of an evil eye a child disappears, seemingly kidnapped by an unscrupulous man with bad intent. The authorities shrug their shoulders. The film deals with a changing society that has gone from poverty and tradition to new found wealth and modernism. It is not the first time the Irish authorities have notoriously failed children in their care — while it was once the poor and orphaned, now it is those of a different race.
cast
vicky—-maria hayden
father—-james akpotor
gypsy—-marie louise kenny
man on street—-irvine welsh
crew
writer/director—-emer martin
producer—-niall mckay
director of photography —-greg hecq
