Midway point reached in shooting schedule on Cassidy’s film “Displaced”

When Declan made a TikTok inviting both professional and non-professional actors and crew to come forward and audition for his Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (now Coimisiun na Mean) funded film ‘Displaced’, the overwhelming response made the pre-production process a very lengthy one. August, however, saw the camera’s roll and half of the film is now ‘in the can’.

“It’s been going really well,” enthused Declan. “We have all of the outdoor scenes shot. They were likely to be the trickiest because we were up against weather, noise and the curious public walking into shot, but we’ve overcome all of those challenges. Everyone has come through social media instead of the normal channels that you’d use when putting together a cast and crew, and the risk has really paid off. I’m working with people that I’d never have found and it’s been so motivating. It’s a motley mix of people who know what they’re doing and people who don’t – but are enthusiastic and quick to learn. The result has been a project that’s joy to work on.”

The film tells two parallel stories – one of a Polish man who, despite having an office job, finds himself ejected from his longterm accommodation with nowhere to go, and the other of young woman whose relationship is threatened because she slept through the alarm and failed to get promised tickets for the last ever show of her girlfriend’s music idol, Melanée.

“We had a competition, on Tiktok again, to ‘find the face of Melanée’ and a wonderful artiste, Nicola Devine, was chosen by cast and crew from almost 200 entries,” explained Declan. “I did a photoshoot with her at the Grand Social venue in Dublin and we used a photo from that to make a poster for the film. Ciaran at Grand Social was a huge help – creating a super backdrop with lights and a smoke machine. Our wardrobe head, Isobel Lorde, and make up artist Zerica Griffins, transformed Nicola from her usual look to the megastar style of the fictitious Melanée.”

Filming is due to be complete on ‘Displaced’ this weekend.