Bio

 

Keith O'Grady was born in Derry in the North of Ireland. He graduated with a BA degree in Media & Cultural Studies from the University of East Anglia, and then trained as an actor in Dublin, and got work in theatre and film. He then did a Masters Degree in film production from the University of Ulster in 2009.

 

He is a skilled educator at University level with a PGCFHE (Distinction) in 2010 from the University of Ulster, and has trained youths at various community groups in film production.

 

Primarily a director, he is also a writer, and at times a producer. He has directed the short fiction films Jam (2009), Not Normal (2010), and the award-winning 'A short film about fear' (2014).

 

His short drama 'Saving Santa' (2017) has won multiple awards in the US, Canada and throughout Europe. He made the documentary films ‘Buile Bhaloir’ (2007), about the future of teenagers lives on Tory Island, and the hard-hitting ‘Tubaiste Bhaile Mhanais’ (2011) – about the Ballymanus Mine Disaster in Donegal in 1943, in which 19 young men and boys lost their lives when a sea mine washed up and exploded. His biographical film about the life and inspiration of Bram Stoker – the critically lauded ‘Bram Stoker & Dracula’ (2011), has screened at multiple festivals on both sides of the Atlantic. He made the landmark film, ‘Ballaí Dhoire’ (2013), for the BBC and TG4, a documentary about the 400 year history and developing meaning of the Derry Walls.

Filmography

 

Truckers na hÉireann

2018 – Docu Series

 

THE PRINCE OF PIES

2018 - Drama

 

SAVING SANTA

2017 – Short film - Drama

 

AN COLÁISTE ÉIREANNACH (The Irish College)

2015 – Four Historical Documentary films

-       Salamanca

-       Leuven

-       Paris

-       Rome

 

THE PEACE WALL

2015 – Short Documentary

 

VÓTAÍ DO MHNÁ

2014 – Historical Documentary

 

A SHORT FILM ABOUT FEAR

2014 – Short film - Drama

 

CREGGAN: THE SEQUEL

2014 – Documentary

 

Robert Burns

2014 – Documentary

 

FEILTE IS FLEADH

2013 – Documentary Series

 

BALLAÍ DHOIRE (DERRY'S WALLS)

2012 – Documentary 

 

BRAM STOKER AGUS DRACULA

2011 – Documentary

 

TUBÁISTE BAILE MHANÁIS

2011 – Documentary

 

NOT NORMAL

2010 – Short film - Comedy

 

JAM

2009 – Short film - Drama 

 

BUILE BHALOIR

2007 – Short film - Documentary

 

 

Awards

 

Saving Santa (2017)

 

Winner – 2017 Chico Short Film Festival – Judge’s Choice Best Short film

 

Winner – 2017 Chico Short Film Festival – Audience Choice Best Short film

 

Winner – 2017 Indie Film Awards, LA, Best Short film

 

Winner – 2017 Disappear Here Film Festival – Best Irish Short

 

Winner – 2017 Antwerp Moving Pictures Festival – Best International Short

 

A Short Film about Fear

 

2014 Winner of Judge's Choice Runner-Up Prize, Chico Short Film Festival

 

2014 Nominee Best Narrative Short, Toronto International Film Awards

 

2015 Nominee Best Short Film, Irish Independent Film Awards

 

Vótaí Do Mhná

 

Best Film of the Year 2014 Nominee, Irish Language Media Awards, Oireachtas

 

Vimeo - Showreel                                                     

 

For more of Keith's work, please visit his Vimeo Profile.