Always on
This project successfully funded on 2nd December 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
The Derry Feis
Londonderry, United Kingdom
Aim
We've made a short film about Irish dancing full of heart and humour. We've wrapped! And we need your help for what comes next.
We've wrapped! And we need your help for what comes next.
Principal photography on The Derry Feis is complete. On 26 and 27 May 2026, our cast and crew took over the streets, walls, and halls of Derry, and we made our film.
It has been an extraordinary two days. Jonjo O'Neill leads the film as Dec, opposite the brilliant Clodagh Hollanders as Saoirse and Shauna Bray as Moira. Together they brought this story of an estranged father and daughter, reunited through the world of Irish dancing, to life in the city where it belongs.
Behind the camera, The Derry Feis is a female-led production. Director of Photography Monika Davies shot the film on location across Derry's historic Walls, Erin Cottage on London Street, and the beautiful St Columb's Hall. Writer, director, and co-producer Helen Murray, a Derry woman herself now based in London, has been shepherding this story for years. Set design came from another Derry woman, Catherine Cullen. Lou Macnamara operated steadicam, Bryony Coyle captured the shoot on unit stills, production was coordinated by Rachael McNamee, and Alice McFaul served as 1st AD. The Question Is Productions Ltd, run by Helen and co-producer Joe Duggan, produced the film throughout.
Now our post production work begins. Post-production: editing, colour, sound design, and music takes time and money. Every contribution you make now goes directly into finishing the film and getting it out into the world, to festivals and beyond.
If you haven't donated yet, there has never been a better moment. And if you already have, thank you. You made those two days in Derry possible.
Can the joy of Irish dancing bring together a Derry Dad and his English daughter who feel worlds apart?
We’re Helen Murray and Joe Duggan, a London-Irish creative duo with strong roots in Derry and a shared love of storytelling. We're inviting you to come on the journey of making The Derry Feis with us.
Helen is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker who is known for pointing her lens at stories and people who are often overlooked. She is regularly commissioned by leading cultural institutions including the National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Court. Joe is a creative producer with a background in short-form storytelling, digital innovation, and community engagement. Together, we founded The Question is Productions to tell stories full of heart, humanity and craic, rooted in Irish culture.
ABOUT OUR FILM
Our debut short film, The Derry Feis (Pronounced "fesh"), is a compelling story about identity, belonging, and finding connection in unexpected places. It follows a young girl who’s just moved from England to Derry to live with her estranged father, a place where she feels like she doesn't fit in. As tensions rise, Irish dancing becomes the thread that begins to pull them together.
WHAT IS The Feis
Feis (plural Feisean) is the Gaelic word for a festival or feast. Today, a Feis is known as an Irish festival where culture meets art, dance and music. Founded in 1922, Feis Dhoire Cholmcille has become a much-loved annual highlight in Derry’s calendar and a celebration of tradition and creativity that has brought the community together for over 100 years
WHY SUPPORT OUR FILM
- We need more female filmmakers! Women Directed Just 16% of 2024’s Top 250 Grossing Movies. Our creative team is led by award-winning director Helen Murray, and acclaimed female DOP Monika Davies
- Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not. The film will nurture young local creative talent in Derry who want to break into film, giving them a paid gig and real hands-on experience with industry professionals
- It’s a film about bringing people together. It celebrates cultural identity and creativity — and we think the world needs that now more than ever.
- Derry is class. Our film will show off iconic Derry locations from the city walls to the Guildhall and boost the local economy by working with local suppliers and talent.
We’re raising funds to bring this story to life on screen. With the funds we'll pay our cast and crew fairly, cover equipment, travel, catering, insurance and post-production. We'll be filming on location in Derry early 2026.
Making this film in Derry as a London Irish team means we don’t qualify for most of the public funds available for short films, so any support you're in a position to give will make this possible.
By coming on board to support this film you will be part of telling a story celebrating connection and cultural identity that we believe the world needs right now. It’ll be proudly Irish and made with passion and care by a female-led award-winning creative team.
A little note from Helen...
The making of our soundtrack with Zands Duggan, Louise Duggan & Rory Murphy.
OUR TEAM so far...
Writer/Director/Producer - Helen Murray award-winning photographer and filmmaker from Derry
DOP - Monika Davies - acclaimed London-based female cinematographer
Producer - Joe Duggan - creative producer and communications specialist from Sheffield
Music - Zands Duggan, Louise Duggan & Rory Murphy.
CAST ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made