Project Detail

Gowk

A wide shot image of a boy sitting in a field with his back to the camera, reading a magazine. In the distance behind him is a tangle of pylons and industrial buildings
A young boy with close cropped hair and a stern look stares at the camera.

Synopsis

Set in the decaying housing estate of Gowkthrapple and based on a true story, Gowk follows a young boy as he begins to uncover a painful family secret.
His mother’s sudden absence casts a shadow over the household, while his father, unable to express his own suppressed pain, keeps the truth of the incident buried. As the boy begins to realise the emotional weight of his family’s past and the fragility of its present,
he navigates a world of unspoken truths and generational wounds.
The film explores the cyclical nature of family bonds, the struggle to connect across generations, the impact of inherited trauma, and the beginnings of a premature loss of innocence.

Details

Year
2025
Type of project
Shorts
Running time
15 min
Format
Digital - DCP
Director
Ryan Pollock
Producer
Kitty McMurdo-Schad, Katriona Tweedie
Executive Producer
Jon Wardle, Christopher Young, Anu Henriques
Editor
Fraser Ballantyne
Director of Photography
Vasileios Kapnis
Production Designer
Morven McLeod
Sound
Marco Biagini
Principal cast
Jack Mavin, Strath Martin, Kathleen McDermott
Costume Designer
Kirstin Rodger
1st Assistant Director
Remo Catani
Casting Director
Des Hamilton
Hair and Make up Designer
Fionn Boyle

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Supported by BBC Film

NFTS (National Film and Television School)

Festivals Department
Beaconsfield Studios
Station Road
Beaconsfield
HP9 1LG
UNITED KINGDOM

Sales Company

NFTS (National Film and Television School)

Festivals Department
Beaconsfield Studios
Station Road
Beaconsfield
HP9 1LG
UNITED KINGDOM

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th March 2026. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

 About an Intimate Matter About an Intimate Matter

Director: Sandeep Kumar Paul

Year: 2026

Science teacher Swarna and her partner Driti move to a suburban town for a fresh start. When a student leaks intimate photos of Swarna online, school authorities turn her private life into a disciplinary issue. Official Selection Busan International Film Festival 2026 - World premiere

Denzel Baidoo as Marcus, forlorn at the dinner table. Clocks

Director: Yv Shells

Year: 2026

When Arlo arrives to find Marcus has cooked someone else’s favourite meal, a single question begins to unravel an evening that refuses to stay in the present. Through a fractured timeline set entirely within one dining room, we move between Marcus and Arlo and the relationship that came before, with Una, the woman he met at a late-night bus stop and once talked about marrying. The same table, the same chairs, the same arguments about trust, honesty and what it means to truly see someone. As the timelines bleed together, it becomes clear that Marcus has never fully left the past, and that Una’s ghost sits at every table he sets. When Arlo asks what her own favourite meal is and he cannot answer, the film’s quiet devastation lands completely. CLOCKS is a portrait of a man who loves generously but sees poorly, and the women who carry the cost. It asks what we owe the person in front of us while we are still in love with someone we lost, and whether a feeling ever truly ends.

Skintown Skintown

Director: Kieron J. Walsh

Year: 2026

1994. As Northern Ireland takes its first steps towards peace, best friends Vinny and Jonty are about to jump start their futures with the most reckless trip of their lives. Official Selection Busan International Film Festival 2026