Ashton
PROJECT: What Does He Need? is a long-term project exploring how men and boys are shaped by and influence the world they live in. Created by artist Fiona Whelan, theatre company Brokentalkers and Rialto Youth Project, it operates at the intersection of collaborative arts practice, performance, qualitative research and youth work, with the aim of creating significant public dialogue about the current state of masculinity. The Scoil Chiaráin CBS strand of the project was led by artist Gary Keegan alongside school staff and youth workers from Donnycarney Youth Project and SCP, and resulted in a poetic piece imagining the life of a fictional boy named Ashton.
CLIENT: Gary Keegan and Fiona Whelan
What they needed
The boys at Scoil Chiaráin had collectively created Ashton through a series of workshops, building a character rooted in their own place and community. They needed a film that could respond to and honour that work, bringing Ashton to life on screen.
What we did
We made a short film about Ashton, a fictional boy created and shaped by the boys at Scoil Chiaráin. The film was built as a response to their poetic piece, translating their collective voice and imagination into something visual and cinematic.