Athlone native’s short film to premiere at Galway festival
By Rebekah O'Reilly
Athlone actor and filmmaker Leah Egan will premiere her short film 'Shelter' at the 37th Galway Film Fleadh this month.
The film is set to make its debut at the Town Hall Theatre in Galway on Friday, July 11, at 11.30am, marking the first time the Coosan woman will showcase a film she both wrote and directed at the festival.
Shot on location in Wines Direct in Athlone’s Connaught Street, ‘Shelter’ is a French/Ukrainian language film situated in a Ukrainian war bunker.
The storyline centers on three women who have been thrown together by world events as they forge a meaningful connection. Forced beyond the spoken word through the unifying lens of a child, they find shared humanity, resilience, and strength.
"Galway Film Fleadh has always been a wonderful event, and I've always dreamed of having my work premiere there," Leah told the Westmeath Independent.
"We shot 'Shelter' in February of this year and finished it just a few weeks back. We submitted it to Galway Film Fleadh in the hopes we'd get in, and we're just beside ourselves that it will start its film festival journey there!"
Leah trained as an actor in The Gaiety Theatre, and has since worked on numerous stage productions, films, and TV series', including TG4's Ros Na Rún, which she has continued working on behind the scenes as a director in recent times.
"What people don't realise is as an actor, you're a trained storyteller," she said. "I have been writing since my time in The Gaiety, but it is just coming to the fore for people now that I am releasing my own short films."
The film 'Shelter' is a milestone project for the Athlone native actor turned director, as she claims her second writer-director credit with the short film.
Her first writer and director credit came with her short film 'I See A Voice', which was filmed in locations around Athlone in the autumn of last year. The short film is yet to have a date confirmed for its release.
"With 'Shelter', it was a new challenge, because I wrote and directed it, but I'm also a lead actor in it," Leah shared.
She noted that it brought a new slew of logistical issues to overcome in "directing the project and making sure everything stayed true to the vision, and everybody feels looked after."
Translators also played an integral role on the set of the film, with Leah putting in a huge amount of work on the English-language subtitles for the film over the past year.
"What I've noticed is my work has a very strong language theme. 'I See A Voice' had ISL (Irish Sign Language) interpreters, 'Shelter' had translators on set, and I've spent a lot of the last year of my life doing subtitles!"
Leah shared that the lifespan of a film is much longer than audiences realise, from pre-production and funding applications to post-production and festival submissions.
"Often you're doing press for a film that you wrapped on years before. It can feel quite strange, because you're looking back on past versions of yourself, and you're trying to keep the project new and exciting.
"It was in 2018 when a friend of mine told a very personal story of hers, and that set the wheels in motion for 'Shelter', and I wrote a script and made funding applications. With 'Shelter' we got a 'no' a few times, so I changed it and moved things around. It finally got a 'yes' in 2024, and we shot it in 2025."
A consistent theme in Leah’s work is authentic storytelling that resonates with real-life audiences.
"Shelter offers a timely reminder of the importance of connection and belonging in times of conflict. Centred in themes of communication and connection, it was poignant to have so many locals involved, particularly those from the local Ukrainian community who find themselves here in Athlone as a result of world events, which are still ongoing.
"I am honoured and humbled by each and every human that helped bring this film to life, particularly those whose lives have been and continue to be directly impacted by the ongoing catastrophes of war, displacement and conflict," she said.
The filmmaker expressed her gratitude to all those in the local community who have contributed to the short film, particularly to Gavin and Trevor from Wines Direct for offering their basement as the filming location, and to AdventureKit.ie for sponsoring the production set dressing.
"I've just been so humbled by how generous local people are. We had two local sponsors, eight local hosts, and ten extras. There was a lot of local support and community support," Leah said.
"People love films and they love films that are true stories, or at least rooted in true stories. It's been such an amazing experience."
To keep up to date with Leah Egan and the latest screenings of 'Shelter', follow @Spinster.Production and @Leah_Egan_ on Instagram.