Filmmaker Statement

'A Death in the Family' was very much inspired by real events. As a child growing up in rural Ireland, we had all sorts of farm animals but we would never eat them. One summer my uncle decided that he would kill one of our chickens so we could learn where meat came from. This short film is based on what followed. It is an exploration of family dynamics, mixing funeral rites with dinnertime rituals in an amusing yet sincere way. It's laugh out loud moments are anchored down by the deeper themes of grief, how we as a society manage our sense of loss and our complex relationship with food.