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I really enjoy the yearly ritual of delving into the depths of the year to reflect on my favourite watches for Directors Notes and have done so now for over a decade. When I went to write my top ten last year, I had just heard about the sudden death of my good friend and artistic mentor in Nottingham; Carol Crowe. I was just too sad to even open my laptop and we ran away to Whitby to see the new year in instead. I needed to feel cold air on my face and see comforting, familiar views.

2022 has been a year of gentle steps, finishing a new, deeply personal film – both shooting in the US and editing as well as starting another. My highlight was at legendary Rak Studios listening to Composer Tara Creme’s score being brought to life by a room full of skilled string players. I spontaneously burst into tears,...

Young Plato comes last, alphabetically, on the list of documentaries qualified for Oscar consideration this year. But it may come in first in the hearts of many Documentary Branch voters as they cast their ballots determining the feature shortlist.

The film directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin and Declan McGrath follows the dynamic principal of the Holy Cross Boys Primary School in Northern Ireland, who has shown remarkable success teaching philosophy to boys ages 4 to 11. If that sounds impossible, you have to see Kevin McArevey in action.

“To find yourself think for yourself!” McArevey quotes Socrates in a pinned tweet on his Twitter feed. That ancient bit of wisdom is the crux of what he imparts to his pupils, gently guiding them to use their minds to work out difficult questions instead of passively adopting another person’s conclusions.

Principal Kevin McArevey at the whiteboard

The headmaster gathers students into what he calls a Socratic Circle,...

An uplifting documentary about an Irish teacher who uses Plato’s teachings to defuse violence among his young pupils is set to be adapted into a feature film by The Bureau, the producers of “Supernova.”

Directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin (“School Life”) and Declan McGrath and produced by David Rane for Soilsiú Films, “Young Plato” was recently released in U.S. cinemas following a major 40-festival run.

The film has won nine Irish and international awards, including the George Morrison Feature Documentary Award at the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Awards, the Iccl Human Rights on Film Award, the Special Jury Award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, and an Honorable Mention at Greenwich Iff.

Set in the post-conflict Belfast community of Ardoyne, “Young Plato” charts the dream of Elvis-loving principal Kevin McArevey — a maverick who is determined to change the fortunes of an inner-city community plagued by urban decay...

Young Plato Soilsiú Films Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net, linked from Rotten Tomatoes by Harvey Karten Directors: Neasa Ni Chianáin, Declan McGrath Screenwriters: Neasa Ni Chianain, Etienne Essery, Declan McGrath Cast: Kevin McArevey, Jan-Marie Reel Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 8/31/22 Opens: September 23, 2022 Does anybody major in anything these days outside of computer […]

The post Young Plato Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

This engaging documentary follows a primary school head who uses classical thinkers to teach new ways of defusing violence

This documentary about school life brought back happy memories of Nicolas Philibert’s classic Etre et Avoir from a generation ago, about a gentle teacher in rural France helping his infants understand the meaning of life. Kevin McArevey is the dynamic headteacher of Holy Cross Boys’ primary school in north Belfast, in a community once scarred by the Troubles.

Mr McArevey loves Elvis, martial arts – and classical philosophy. For his nine-and 10-year-olds, he has introduced lessons with maxims from the great thinkers of Ancient Greece as talking points, and he is using these lessons as a way of learning new modes of thinking, strategies to defuse violence and head off confrontation, and it culminates with his bold plan to put up a big new mural on the streets: not the traditional icons of sectarianism,...

This year’s Diff will run as physical event from February 23-March 6.

Sasha King’s Vicky and Dónal Foreman’s The Cry Of Granuaile are among the world premieres screening at this year’s Dublin International Film Festival (Diff), which will run as a physical event from February 23-March 6.

Produced by King and Bill Snodgrass, documentary Vicky tells the story of Irish woman Vicky Phelan’s work to expose the truth behind Ireland’s Cervical Check healthcare scandal.

The Cry Of Granuaile is produced by Foreman, Liam Beatty and Edwina Forkin and centres on an American filmmaker, reeling from the...