Success at Florida Film Festival for Nenagh native
An award-winning documentary made by a Nenagh native will have its Irish premiere in front of an invited audience in the Mansion House, Dublin, this Friday, February 21, with an audience made up of people who have had a part to play in the unique life story of Frank Buckley.
Producer and director Eamonn Dillon of Nenagh first met Frank in 2013 when Frank was receiving international attention for his conceptual art project the Billion Euro House, created in Smithfield Square as a commentary on Ireland’s economic recession. At that stage Eamonn was interviewing Frank purely to get a perspective on the difficulties of being an unemployed artist during a recession, but was stunned to discover that this was simply the tip of the iceberg of an incredible life.
He heard how the twists and turns of Frank’s colourful life have taken him down many roads and how, many times along the way, Frank had taken the wrong path but had somehow always managed to turn things around and get back on track, rebuilding his life in a new form each time. This has included working as a road manager in the music business, setting up and running an international charity for migrant communities and, now, working as a much-loved guide and driver for Paddywagon tours.
When Eamonn approached Frank about making this film, Frank agreed on the condition that the film-makers accompany him on his work, travelling the highways and byways of Ireland and all the while keeping his passengers enraptured with tales of his native land and those from his own eventful life.
LIFE'S HIGHS AND LOWS
Unwittingly, this provided an ideal framing device for the film, turning Frank’s Road from what might have been a standard documentary format into a road movie, one in which the stops on Frank’s route along the coast of Ireland coincided with the major destinations along the way on his journey through life’s highs and lows.
Frank’s Road could serve as an inspirational story for those attempting to overcome struggles with addiction, a reminder of the need to care for those who have some here from other countries and cultures and for anyone simply seeking a reminder that life does not have to be mundane and that taking the road less travelled, while bringing many challenges,
can also bring its own rewards. In the current times of uncertainty and insecurity it is also a reminder that each of us, in our own way, can make a difference, just as Frank has done.
FILM PRAISE
“It is a wonderful film that goes a long way to show how any one person can turn their life around, even when the road ahead looks like a dead end” - Richard Jackson, The Art of Recovery Film Festival, Florida.