WE’RE THE KIDS IN AMERICA
We’re the Kids in America is a triptych about three generations of Irish fathers and Sons. Ireland in the 1950’s and 1980’s and New York in 2016. The screenplay depicts the sins of fathers and sons against a backdrop of a story about getting out of a small town.
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS & AWARDS
Cannes L'Atèlier, 2018
Official Selection
Sundance Screenwriting Lab, 2018
Finalist
Broadcast Education Association, 2019
Best of Competition
Stowe Story Labs for Tangerine Fellowship, 2019
Honorable Mention
ScreenCraft Production Funding, 2019
Finalist
Finish Line Script Competition, 2019
Quarter-Finalist
Academy Nicholl’s Fellowship, 2019
Placed among the Top 10% of all entries
Moving Picture Institute, Screenwriting Fellow, 2017
PRESS
Imelda O’Reilly at L’Atelier
Irish director invited to Cannes to meet producers
MPI Screenwriting Fellow’s Script Selected for 2018 Cannes Cinéfondation Atelier
15 projects selected for the Cannes Cinéfondation Atelier
O’ Reilly has the Cannes-Do Spirit
L’Atelier 2018 Festival de Cannes
For L’Atelier’s 14th edition, 15 projects from 15 countries have been selected,
Cannes Cinéfondation Atelier unveils 15 titles for 2018
Behind the Scenes with... New York based Irish director Imelda O’Reilly
Columbia University School of the Arts
Alumni and Faculty Head to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival
L’Atélier Cinéfondation Official Selections – Cannes International Film Festival – 2018
"We’re the Kids in America" is a triptych about three generations of Irish fathers and sons set in Ireland in the 1950?s and 1980?s and then in present day New York City. In the 1980’s, we follow a young teenager Christian as he flees a dysfunctional home life in Kildare in the hopes of building a better future for himself in the United States. In flashbacks and jump forwards we see how the sins of the fathers unfold for each generation. The 1950’s patriarch Liam at one time a strong, pious laborer is now beaten down by the harsh socio-economic times and Britain’s oppressive rule of Ireland.
After a catastrophic family fight where his father acts out violently Christian vows to flee Ireland. He sells his one possession, a beloved motorcycle he fixed up himself and buys a one way ticket to New York City. Thirty years later, Christian is a single father with two sons from two different mothers struggling to break the cycle of family dysfunction. His teenage son Ned encourages him to return home and make amends with his ill father Jimmy. In Ireland the grandfather, father and sons heal old wounds and through forgiveness set themselves free.
The Cinefondation’s Atelier has been created in 2005 to stimulate creative filmmaking and encourage the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers. So far, out of 202 projects accompanied, 145 have been released in the theaters and 28 are currently in pre-production. For L’Atelier’s 14th edition, 15 projects from 15 countries have been selected, from the new director to the well-known filmmaker.
Imelda O’Reilly Joe Foley at Cannes Film Festival, 2018
Imelda O’Reilly with Adam Driver & Barry Alexander Brown at Cannes Film Festival, 2018