Mark O'Connor
Directing
Biography
Mark O’ Connor is a graduate of Film Operations and Production from Ballyfermot College and directing from The New York Film Academy. He also holds a masters in screenwriting from IADT. Mark made over 60 short films, before writing and directing his debut feature film ‘Between the Canals’. Between the Canals was highly acclaimed with Film Ireland calling it “The best Irish film in a long long time”. It was the acting debut for Barry Keoghan and many of the cast went on to star in leading roles in the hit RTE television series ‘Love Hate’. Mark’s second feature film ‘King of the travellers’ was selected for festivals around the world and received a UK and Irish cinema and DVD release and was released in 150 territories worldwide on VOD. ‘Stalker’, Mark’s third feature film won the Underground Film Festival and Runner up Prize at the Galway Film festival. Mark’s fourth feature film ‘Cardboard Gangsters’ was the highest grossing Irish film of the year and received 5 stars reviews. It won 6 awards at the Manchester Film Festival including Best Film, Best Actor, Outstanding Cinematography, Outstanding Screenplay, Outstanding Director, and Film of the Festival. It also won Best Film at The Newport Beach Film Festival in Los Angeles. Worldwide rights to the film were bought by Netflix. Mark then wrote and directed a six-part crime drama for Virgin Media UK/Ireland called ‘Darklands’. It received critical acclaim and an average of 450,000 viewers per episode and was recently sold to Australian television network SBS. Mark is currently in development on a number of projects including a comedy drama ‘Oui Cannes’ set in Ireland and France and is a major television series being produced by Samson Films
Known For
After being threatened during a confession, a good-natured priest must battle the dark forces closing in around him.
Calvary
Gangland crime drama set in small-town Ireland. Damien, a young MMA fighter with dreams of escaping his tough neighbourhood, is held back by his struggling family and his brother Wes's involvement with the local drug gang. On the eve of a big fight, a major drug deal goes wrong and Wes goes missing, events which drag Damien into a dangerous new world potentially fraught with violence and even murder.
Darklands
A group of young Cardboard Gangsters attempt to gain control of the drug trade in Darndale, chasing the glorified lifestyle of money, power and sex.
Cardboard Gangsters
A mentally unstable homeless man attempts to save his new and only friend from the world and drug dealers that make his life a living hell.
Stalker
King of the Travellers is a contemporary drama grounded in the traditions of the Irish traveller community and driven by emotive Shakespearean themes of love, betrayal, friendship and revenge. The story follows John Paul Moorehouse on his destructive quest to uncover the truth about the killer of his father twelve years ago. John Paul's desire for revenge is swayed as he falls for Winnie Power, the daughter of the man he suspects killed his father. John Paul must now battle between his consuming passion for justice versus his desire to be with the woman he now loves.
King of the Travellers
Ciaran is a passionate yet restless college dropout who has returned home to recession-struck Dublin after a year of travelling. Broke and living with his parents, struggling to re-connect with the ex-girlfriend that he left behind and the friends and social scene that have moved on without him, Ciaran questions whether he should stay or go - and comes to realize the difference between being stuck and being present
Out of Here
On the streets of Dublin, Danny, a homeless man grappling with the ghosts of his past, finds himself caught in a cycle of despair and survival. Haunted by memories of his time serving in the Royal Irish Army, Danny's life takes a turn when he encounters Will, a young teenager on the run from a dangerous drug gang.
Amongst the Wolves
Three small time criminals from Dublin's North Inner City each aspire to be somebody in a fast changing society.
Between the Canals
This film follows three teenage boys living in London during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a series of vignettes, we see their conversations and experiences, and how their perspectives on the present moment and their place in society are shaped by their interactions with the outside world. Despite their different backgrounds, their youthfulness aligns them in ways as they share a sense of uncertainty and a desire to function in this transitional period to adulthood.
Highgate 214
A movie about Dublin gangsters