Documentary to be screened on 1980s film shot in Kildare

A new documentary about Eat The Peach, which was filmed in Kildare, is being screened this month.

Eat The Peach, which was released in 1986, was shot on location in the Bog of Allen on the Kildare / Offaly border as well as in Dublin, Meath and Wicklow.

The story follows two young men who are inspired by an Elvis Presley movie to create a Wall of Death stunt for a motorcyclist to ride around.

The Artist & The Wall of Death documentary based on the movie is now being shown at the Irish Film Institute Festival (IFI) in Dublin from September 21 to 25.

When Glaswegian performance artist, Stephen Skrynka, learns that a life-long obsession with building and riding a ‘Wall of Death’ was shared with Michael Donohoe and Connie Kiernan (who built a wall in 1979 and inspired the film Eat the Peach), he heads to their farm in Granard, Co Longford with an audacious proposal: construct a new ‘Wall of Death’ with him and take it on tour.

Though the Wall is painstakingly constructed, a painful argument between the trio brings the endeavour skidding to a halt.

Devastated, Stephen returns to Glasgow to lick his wounds, emerging mid-pandemic to fight another day.

This documentary explores the relentless determination of an artist to realise his dream.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Maurice O’Brien and producers John Kelleher and Grant Keir.