Athlone publican Ann Flannery pictured in Switzerland at a screening of the ‘Ann’s Pub’ in January. The film will now be shown at Athlone Little Theatre later this month.

First local screening of award-winning Flannery's pub film

Adrian Cusack

Published: Fri 15 Apr 2022, 1:28 PM

An award-winning short film about Flannery's Pub in Athlone will receive its first screening in Ireland later this month.

And, fittingly, the Irish premiere will take place just a short stroll from the pub itself, in Athlone Little Theatre.

Ann's Pub, a 26-minute documentary about one of the town's best-known nightspots and its proprietor, Ann Flannery, will be shown at 7.30pm and at 8.30pm on Friday, April 29.

Bookings can be made online at eventbrite.ie. At the time of writing, the 7.30pm screening on April 29 was fully booked, but there were still some seats available for the 8.30pm showing.

Admission to the screening is free, but the event is a fundraiser for the South Westmeath Hospice and donations towards this important local facility are being encouraged on the night. There will be live music in Flannery's afterwards.

Ann's Pub was made by Swiss filmmaker Thabea Furrer, who shot it during a number of visits to the Sean Costello Street venue between 2017 and 2019.

The film won the Short Film Prize at the Basel Film and Media Art Awards last November. Its first public screening came at the Solothurn Film Festival in Switzerland on Saturday, January 22.

A promotional summary of the film states: "Ann never goes out, because she lives right behind the counter of her little pub in Athlone, Ireland.

"The pub is like a stage on which she plays her part night after night. Everyone knows the quick-witted and energetic Ann. But who is she really?"

Ann Flannery and a group of friends travelled to Switzerland for the screening in January, and were joined there by other locals based in mainland Europe.

The star of the documentary told the Westmeath Independent she was initially mortified when she saw herself on the big screen, but by the end of the film she was filled with pride.

"To sit there in the cinema and to see our little pub was just great. I could have never envisaged it or expected it. It's a fantastic accolade. I'm so proud of it, and so proud of our town."

Ann also said the film did a good job of capturing the pre-pandemic era when the pub was packed to the rafters and social distancing was not a familiar concept.

"Because of Covid, the film was literally like looking back in time. You were seeing the people on the street, and the people on top of you in the pub, in the way that things were," she said.