Alan Gilsenan


Alan Gilsenan is an Irish writer, filmmaker and theatre director.
His most recent work include the cinema documentary Meetings with Ivor, the feature film Unless, based on a novel by Carol Shields and The Meeting, which he wrote and directed and premiered at the 2018 Dublin Film Festival.
Gilsenan is a former chairperson of the Irish Film Institute. He also served on the Irish Film Board, and on the board of the International Dance Festival Ireland. Between 2009 and 2014, Gilsenan served on the board of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, where he chaired the Editorial and Creative Output Committee. He is currently on the Board of Fighting Words, a creative writing centre for young people founded by Sean Love & novelist Roddy Doyle.

Early life

Born in County Meath in Ireland, Gilsenan grew up on Raglan Road in Ballsbridge in Dublin, where he attended St. Conleth's College.
A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin – he won First Class Honours in Modern English and Sociology – Gilsenan received the inaugural A.J. Leventhal Scholarship. He was also editor of Piranha magazine while at Trinity.
Gilsenan's grandfather was James John O' Shee, usually known as J.J. O' Shee was an Irish nationalist politician, solicitor, labour activist and Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons representing the constituency of West Waterford from 1895 until 1918.

Career in Film

Having made an acclaimed film of Samuel Beckett's TV drama, Eh Joe, Gilsenan came to note with his controversial, award-winning documentary for the U.K.'s Channel 4 The Road to God Know's Where in 1988. With producer Martin Mahon, he formed Yellow Asylum Films and made a number of documentaries on challenging aspects of Irish life. These include The Asylum, The Hospice, The Home, I See A Darkness, and A Time to Die.
Gilsenan's Other major documentary work includes
Gilsenan's earlier film career includes the short thriller Zulu 9 as well as two experimental feature films All Souls’ Day and Timbuktu.
In 2016, Gilsenan wrote and directed the feature film Unless, starring Catherine Keener, based upon the novel of Carol Shields. It received its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
Gilsenan's last feature, The Meeting, premiered at the 2018 Dublin International Film Festival. A controversial film where the victim of an unforgivable crime, confronts her attacker.
Gilsenan's works also include a documentary on the folk singer Liam Clancy entitled The Yellow Bittern; as well as portraits of the poet Paul Durcan in The Dark School, the visual artist Sean Scully in The Bloody Canvas and the playwright Tom Murphy in Sing On Forever. He also made the experimental cinema documentary A Vision: A Life of WB Yeats.
Gilsenan has received three Irish Film & Television Awards and six IFTA nominations as both director and production designer.

Career in Theatre

Gilsenan's theatre work includes:

Director