PRESENTS
BLUE ROAD:
THE EDNA O’BRIEN STORY
A FILM by sinead o’shea
For Immediate Release – Films We Like is honoured to announce the Canadian acquisition of Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story, a film by Sinead O’Shea about the Irish novelist, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In 1960, a young Irish woman named Edna O’Brien wrote a sexually frank debut novel, The Country Girls. She became a literary sensation, writing for The New Yorker, delivering provocative interviews, and authoring screenplays.
Her success enraged her writer husband and made her a pariah in her native Ireland, where her books were banned and burned. She would make her home in London, where she conducted numerous love affairs, hosted star-studded parties, and made and lost a fortune.
In July 2024, Edna passed away and this film provides a final testimony from her, aged 93, as she reflects upon her extraordinary life for filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea’s camera.
Granting the director access to her personal journals — read aloud in the film by the Oscar nominated actress Jessie Buckley (Hamnet, The Lost Daughter) — and with additional perspectives offered from Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosley and an array of renowned writers, Edna does not shy from any subject.
Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story is as candid, dark, and enchanting as O’Brien’s wonderful novels.
Running time: 99 minutes
Country of origin: Ireland, United Kingdom
Language: English
Media Contact: mercy@filmswelike.com
About Films We Like
Founded by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ron Mann (Clairtone, Grass, Comic Book Confidential, Carmine Street Guitars) Films We Like is a boutique distributor of documentary, independent, and international films in Canada. Recent releases include A Poet, Resurrection, and the Academy Award-winning film Flow.