Kirsten Sheridan (born 14 July 1976) is an Irish film director and screenwriter. She is best known for co-writing the semi-autobiographical film In America with her father, director Jim Sheridan, and her sister, Naomi Sheridan, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Globe Award for and Best Screenplay."2004 Golden Globe Nominations" , Premiere. Accessed 3 November 2007.
She is also known as the director of films Disco Pigs and August Rush.
Early life Born in Dublin, Sheridan moved to New York City in 1981, spending her early childhood there while her father struggled to make it as an actor and theater director. Her family moved back to Ireland eight years later, whereupon her father found success as the director of My Left Foot,Macnab, Geoffrey. "My life as a pig", The Guardian, 12 November 2001. Accessed 2 November 2007. in which Sheridan plays the younger sister of lead actor Daniel Day-Lewis."Person of the Month Jim, Naomi & Kirsten Sheridan", Independent.ie, 22 February 2004. Accessed 2 November 2007. She studied script writing at New York University in 1993 and went to film school at University College Dublin, ultimately earning her film degree from Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design in 1998.
Career Her thesis short film Patterns won several international film festival awards, including Clermont-Ferrand, Cork, Galway, Dresden, Aspen, and Chicago, and her next short, The Case of Majella McGinty, about a little girl who escapes her stressful life by crawling into a suitcase,Kemp, Rebecca. "In America" , Close-UpFilm.com. Accessed 2 November 2007. received festival awards at Foyle, Cork, San Francisco, Cologne, and Worldfest Houston."Who's Who Directors: Kirsten Sheridan", IFTN.ie. Accessed 2 November 2007.
The first feature film Sheridan directed was 2001's Disco Pigs, Enda Walsh's screen adaptation of his own play, starring Cillian Murphy and Elaine Cassidy"Kirsten Sheridan Filmography", IMDb.com. Accessed 2 November 2007. as teenagers in a lifelong, obsessive, antisocial friendship. The Guardian described the independent film as a "stylised, hyperkinetic drama ... that combines kitchen-sink realism and vicious fight scenes with highly stylised fantasy sequences". Disco Pigs earned Sheridan nominations for best director at the British Independent Film Awards and the Irish Film & TV Academy Awards, as well as prizes at the Castellinaria Youth Film Festival, the Giffoni Film Festival, the Young European Cinema Film Festival and the Ourense Film Festival.
Next, Sheridan collaborated with her father Jim and sister Naomi on the script for In America, a film based on their memories of their family's years of poverty in New York, with the story of the death of Jim's younger brother woven in as an added element. Jim directed the film, which went on to success and earned several prestigious awards nominations,"Kirsten Sheridan Awards", IMDb.com. Accessed 2 November 2007. including an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Sheridan's latest film is 2007's August Rush, which stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Keri Russell as star-crossed lovers and musicians, Freddie Highmore as their orphaned musical prodigy offspring, and Robin Williams as a Faginesque character. The Irish Times criticized the film as "bounc(ing) around between so many forms, moods and genres that it proves impossible to get a handle on,"Clarke, Donald. "August Rush",The Irish Times, 23 November 2007. Accessed 24 November 2007. while Variety called it "utterly predictable, but with moments of genuine charm."Weissberg, Jay. "August Rush", Variety, 22 October 2007. Then in 2012 Kirsten released another movie called "Dollhouse". Accessed 2 November 2007.
Sheridan directed Dollhouse in 2010. Filming took place over 21 days, and it was released in 2012. The unscripted story, featured a cast of young Irish actors, including then-unknown Jack Reynor and Seána Kerslake. The film was featured at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival and won the jury prize at the 2012 Odesa International Film Festival.
Sheridan has won many awards for her short films.
Sheridan was a Co-Executive Producer and a writer on the FX series ‘Say Nothing’ premiering on Hulu on November 14, 2024.
She was also an Executive Producer on the upcoming Sky/Peacock series ‘Lockerbie’, starring Colin Firth and premiering on January 2, 2025.
Personal life Sheridan has three children, sons Leo (born 2002), Séamus (born 2007) and Frankie (born 2010).
Filmography Short film YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerEditor1995The Bench1996Gentleman Caller1997Walking into Mirrors 1998Patterns1999The Case of Majella McGinty
Feature film YearTitleDirectorWriter2001Disco Pigs2002In America2007August Rush 2012Dollhouse
Editor Between Two Worlds (1997) Ward Zone (1998)
Ref.:
Selected awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryWorkResultNotes2004Academy AwardBest Original ScreenplayIn Americashared with Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan Golden Globe AwardBest Screenplayshared with Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan Broadcast Film Critics Association AwardsBest Writershared with Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan "Winners 2003" , BFCA.org. Accessed 3 November 2007.2003Irish Film and Television AwardsBest Director of a Feature FilmDisco PigsStewart, Miriam. "News: Irish Film and Television Academy Awards", Arts Ireland, December 2002. Accessed 3 November 2007.2002British Independent Film AwardsDouglas Hickox AwardDisco Pigs"2002 Nominations", BIFA.org.uk. Accessed 2 November 2007.2000Irish Film and Television AwardsBest Short FilmThe Case of Majella McGintyshared with producers Siobhan Bourke and Kate Lennon1998Film Institute of IrelandYoung Irish Talent Award
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