RUARUM Film Club Presents: Notes From Sheepland, directed by Cara Holmes

Orla Barry is a hard-working, lipstick-wearing sheep farmer in rural Wexford. She is a self-confessed ovine addict. A decade in sheep, she’s still wondering what possessed her to start but yet she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Orla lived in Brussels for 16 years and now lives and works in South East Ireland where she runs a flock of pedigree Lleyn sheep. Her work deals with the tensions of being an artist and an eco-farmer in rural Ireland. The sheep have slowed her art career but at the same, caring for them has hugely inspired it. She escapes the studio by going to the sheep, escapes the sheep by hiding in her studio.

Notes From Sheepland follows Orla, an outlier, as she floats between these worlds. It reflects upon the primal, poetic and unpredictable bond she has with the natural world.

RUARUM is a monthly film club that takes place at Rua Red. Our goal is to bring new and exciting screenings to anyone who loves movies and cinema. After all screenings, you are welcome to join us for a friendly chat to share your thoughts and debrief together!

This screening forms part of Rua Red's Learning and Engagement programme for Orla Barry's exhibition 'The Collie, The Cheviot & The Crouched Skeleton', which runs from 10 July—26 September at Rua Red.