Imelda O’ Reilly is a native of Kildare Ireland who has lived in New York, Paris, Seville, London and Fez, Morocco. She is an award winning poet, playwright and filmmaker. Her published books include; I Wake In Half Dream, (Lapwing Press in 2004) and Shenanigans, (Sceptre in the UK in 1999). She also has a compilation of poetry to music entitled In People’s Heads with Grammy Nominee Joel Diamond.
Imelda has written and directed numerous plays. Her first play Twilight Café was developed through The Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York, 1997. Her second play CooooLouds was developed at The Dublin Fringe Festival, 1998. Her third, Faz In Ate was selected as part of the Mabou Mines Artist in Residence Program in 2000. It was then co-produced by Deadalus Theatre Company in New York. Imelda’s Emilita and the Faery Glen, first broadcast at Symphony Space on Broadway at WNYC was commissioned and co-produced by Deadalus Theatre Co., (NY, 2001). Imelda was commissioned as a writer on Mabou Mines production of Song For New York, directed by Ruth Maleczech. It was performed outdoors on a barge in New York in the summer of 2007.
Imelda began studying for her Masters in Fine Art at Columbia University in September 2004, where she was selected for the New York Women in Film Fellowship for the most promising female director attending Columbia University. She graduated in 2008 with an MFA in Film.
She has written and directed five short films. These include, The Seamonster and the Milk Thistle that appeared in numerous Film Festivals, and won an award for Best Cinematography. Beneath the Boy’s Cry her feature length screenplay was selected to participate in Moonstone International that is modeled in consultation with The Sundance Institute for 2007. Her feature length screenplay entitled Beneath the Boy’s Cry was short-listed for the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Lab in 2009.
Individual artists grants include New York Foundation for the Arts, The Irish Arts Council, The Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation and Unity Theatre Co.
Imelda was awarded the Fulbright Fellowship in 2007/08 to write and direct a narrative film in Morocco. Established in 1946, America’s most prestigious fellowship is awarded annually to those who have already demonstrated outstanding promise and leadership in their field to allow them time to work on their next project.
Her most recent film Bricks, Beds and Sheep's Heads was an Eastern Region Finalist for the Student Academy Awards in 2008. Her films have premiered at IFC, Student Academy Awards, Anthology Film Archives and International Film Festival de Creteil among others. She is currently in development for two feature film projects, Beneath the Boy's Cry and Midnight Crisis. She currently is an adjunct professor in film at Barnard College, Hunter College and the School for Visual Arts.
