Laois director brings homegrown horror to big screen in time for Halloween

Shane W. Brennan is a writer/director from Portlaoise, who has seen recent selection success with his short horror film Shadowban.

Shane says the short film has been widely praised and amassed multiple selections in festivals in Ireland, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, Ukraine, and China.

Shadowban was recently been selected as 1 of 16 Irish short films to compete in the prestigious Light and Motion Competition as part of the Foyle Film Festival, which is Oscar-affiliated, as well as BAFTA and IFTA recognised. MORE BELOW TRAILER.

Shane says the film was a passion project that was self-funded by his company Foe and was shot in Stradbally in the winter of 2021. Shane has been working in advertising and production for over a decade with some of the biggest brands in Ireland. However, Shadowban is his first step out into non-commercial fiction production. 

Shadowban is a short horror film that stars TikTok star and Kilkenny native Fiona Bergin and uses modern themes inspired by traditional storytelling and folklore. It explores how we use and rely on technology in our world to interact with each other and poses the question as to what we are losing with these advancements all set against the backdrop of and dark country road on Halloween.

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Shane says he is delighted to be able to showcase his home county through his filmmaking and hopes to shoot future projects in Laois.