Cian O Connor is a filmmaker from the West of Ireland. The Kerryman newspaper has described Cian’s work as “stories from the West of Ireland, with echoes of the past and lessons for the present”. He has won awards from Fresh Film Festival, Junior Galway Film Fleadh and Charlie Chaplin Comedy Festival. Cian’s films have also been screened at Galway Film Fleadh, Fastnet Film Festival and Dingle International Film Festival.
“The West Kerry Cowboy is based on my experience growing up in rural Ireland. I wanted to explore my relationship with my masculinity and my father. Furthermore, I wanted to step away from archetypes typically associated with rural stories. I aimed to depict the countryside as not a place to escape from but instead as a world of it’s own with distinctive characters that are happy to be living there.”