‘DIVE’, based on the short story by Amy-Joyce Hastings, will have it’s world premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh in July
In the May|June 2024 issue of Irish Country Magazine, the winner of the Short Story competition was actor and director Amy-Joyce Hastings. Her story ‘DIVE’ perfectly encapsulated the theme of ‘A Leap of Faith’ and we loved the piece as soon as we read it.
We recently learned that her story has been adapted into a short film and will be shown at the Galway Film Fleadh on 9 July.
Here, Amy talks about her decision to write the short story and how a random chat over a glass of wine set the wheels in motion to bring it from the page to the big screen.
What made you decide to enter the Irish Country Magazine Short Story competition?
“I remember this so clearly! I was working on a pitch deck in Irish for a funding scheme, having just spent days working on another pitch for a different film project, and my brain was fried. Pitch materials are such a different kind of writing — more formal, more strategic — and I remember thinking, “If I don’t write something purely creative today, I will lose my mind.”
“I was right down to the wire on the deadline for both the pitch and the competition, but I had this really strong instinct that I wanted to write something prose-based just for the love of it. So I put the film stuff aside for the day and wrote the story for the Irish Country Magazine competition. I had no expectations, I just needed a little creative detox.”
As someone already involved in the film industry, could you imagine it on the big screen while you were writing it?
“Not at all, actually! It was very much a creative reset — a chance to work in a different medium and let go of production constraints. But I’m quite a visual writer, so I suppose the cinematic thread was there underneath.
“It was only after it was published that my friend Caroline Grace Cassidy — who’s an author and screenwriter — messaged me saying, “I just read your story. That would make a brilliant short film.” And, maybe because I was on my second glass of wine, I suddenly thought, “You know what? It would.” It was a single character, single location — or so I thought — so I figured we could shoot it quickly without a long development process.
“That same evening I reached out to collaborators, starting with the amazing Irish-Australian actress Alison McGirr, who I offered the lead role to. Four weeks later we were on location in Salthill filming!”
What was the process like to get it from the page to the screen?
“First I had to adapt the story into a screenplay — and that’s when I realised it was not “just one character, one location” after all. Jess has so many internal thoughts and memories, and I had to find visual ways to express those. We ended up with eight additional vignette scenes, including a flashback where Young Jess is thrown into a pool by her swim instructor and nearly drowns.
“In my first draft, that whole moment was done as sound design — I was still clinging to the illusion that it would be simple! But once I had the rough cut, it was obvious we needed to show that scene to really do justice to the rest of the film. So we cast Faye Kinsella, who performed her own underwater stunts, and shot the sequence later in the year, thanks to Ross Castle letting us use their pool.
“The whole process was incredibly fast. Once Ali said yes, we had four weeks until she arrived in Ireland — so that set our pre-production schedule. Michelle King came on board as producer, and we scrambled to lock in permits, insurance, costumes, props, and our team. The trickiest part was timing tides and weather windows — we needed both high tide for the dive and low tide to shoot on Blackrock Tower when it was closed to the public.
“But once we were on location, it went like a dream. Ali was amazing, so committed — she did eleven dives on the first day, with three cameras capturing it from land, air, and underwater. My cinematographer Graham Cantwell had to do a fair few dives himself for POV and underwater footage. We shot for four days in July, with two extra days in November for the Young Jess material.
“The stunning score was composed by Emmy/IFTA nominated composer Joseph Conlan, and that was the finishing touch to the film, just in time to make the final submission deadline for the Galway Film Fleadh. It took 10 months total to make the 7.5 minute film. But I’m very glad I convinced myself to do it.”
Irish short films have done very well internationally in recent years – who have you been influenced or inspired by?
“It’s been so exciting to watch Irish short films gain real international traction over the past decade — not just in terms of Oscar nominations or big wins, but in the sheer variety and emotional depth of the stories being told. There’s a boldness and honesty to a lot of Irish short filmmaking that I really admire.
“I wouldn’t say there’s one particular film or filmmaker that directly inspired DIVE, but being part of a creative community where great shorts are being made definitely raises the bar for all of us. I’ve been hugely inspired by the calibre of short filmmaking coming out of Ireland in recent years.
“Our industry also holds short films in higher regard than some larger markets, where they’re often seen as calling cards rather than meaningful works in their own right. That respect shows in the integrity of the work being created here.
“That said, most of my own learning as a filmmaker has come through my work as an actor — just being on set, watching directors closely, and absorbing the process by osmosis. I’ve spent years observing how different directors shape tone, communicate with cast and crew, and bring performances to life. That’s shaped the kind of energy I want to bring into a space when I’m directing, so all the directors I’ve worked with have influenced me in that way.”
After DIVE has its world premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh, what happens next?
“Myself, Michelle and Ali (who’s also Executive Producer) are building an international festival strategy. That means targeting a list of festivals, submitting screeners, and — fingers crossed — getting selected.
“There are tens of thousands of shorts made every year, so it’s a competitive process, but we’ve already begun submitting. Hopefully we’ll have more Irish and international screenings to announce soon!” (Follow along @dive_short)
How do you feel about people seeing your short story on the big screen?
“Really excited. I’m proud of everyone who worked on the film — it was a genuine labour of love, and I think that passion shows on screen.
“I’ve seen it so many times in the edit, but there’s no substitute for watching it with an audience. Galway is a brilliant festival to premiere at, and we’ll have Ali over from Australia and most of our cast and crew in attendance. I think it’s a story audiences will connect with — it has a lot of heart, a bit of pain, and a hopeful ending. It’s very cinematic too.
“It’s screening at 12 noon on Wednesday 9 July as part of the Fís ar Iarthair (Way Out West) programme at the Town Hall Theatre. Cogar, which I’m also in, screens right beforehand in the 10am Gearrscannáin programme.”
[This project, directed by award-winning actor and director Elaine Kennedy, is a short film inspired by the legacy of family secrets in a small rural Irish town and the whispers (Cogar) of the community. It was made with the help of the local Dingle community and gives voice to survivors of sexual abuse who conceive children out of their trauma and the legacy of family secrets].
What is your biggest takeaway from the last year?
“Specifically what DIVE has shown me — both the short story and the film — is that sometimes you can get stuck in a rut trying to do everything through “the proper channels.” But now and then, you just have to trick yourself, trust your instincts… and dive in (pun intended). Momentum is its own kind of magic.”
