Colm Bairéad was born in Dublin and raised bilingually in both the Irish and English language. He developed a fascination with film at a young age, which was cultivated by his father who introduced him to silent cinema, early Hollywood musicals and 40s noir. Following an adolescence experimenting in the production of short films, Colm studied film at the Dublin Institute of Technology. His first commissioned short film after college was Mac an Athar (His Father’s Son), a semi-autobiographical film about an Irish-speaking family in Dublin, which enjoyed success on the international festival circuit. In 2012, Colm received a distinction from the Screen Directors’ Guild of Ireland for his “outstanding work as a director in the Irish language”. In 2022, Colm was the recipient of the Aer Lingus Discovery Award and the Screen Ireland-IFTA Rising Star Award. Colm wrote and directed the critically–acclaimed Irish-language film, An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl), his narrative feature film debut. The film was nominated for two BAFTAs (Adapted Screenplay & Film Not in the English Language) and secured an Academy Award nomination for International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards in 2023. It was the first time in the history of the Academy Awards that Ireland was represented in this category.
Picture : DR
