Former Magh Éne College Student Creates Film to Showcase her School Ten Years after her Leaving Cert

When Grace Garvin went back to visit her old school, Magh Éne College in Bundoran, ten years after she did her Leaving Cert to deliver what was supposed to be a two hour workshop, she, along with her partner Richard Davies, through their company Wild Rice Films, ended up producing a short documentary that has captured the hearts of the school community and beyond.

According to Grace, “The original brief from Magh Éne was a two-hour workshop to teach the Transition Year students about filmmaking. However, the prospect to tell a great story about an Irish post-primary school developed quickly into a two-day shoot and one short unscripted documentary.”

She continues, “We sat down with staff and students and asked questions about the fundamentals of what makes them happy in their education.

Magh Éne College Principal, Pat Tighe believes, “If we have happy students, they will work better and the learning will follow.”

The answers they received were, as Grace puts it, “both thoughtful and hilarious and provided the backdrop for a heart-warming story about the great work that goes on in schools across the country.”

The Magh Éne College school community is absolutely delighted with the film. Principal Pat Tighe says, “There’s a really positive energy throughout the whole documentary.”

While based in Bristol for the last three years, Grace and Richard regularly come back to visit Bundoran. They set up their company Wild Rice Films last September with Grace working on the business development, finance, research and production side of the business. Richard’s expertise lies in filmmaking; he was nominated for a Royal Television Society West Award in 2017 for his filmmaking on ‘Best Factual’ for Channel 4’s ‘WWII’s Great Escapes: The Freedom Trials’ and has also worked on Channel 4’s ‘My Family and the Galapagos’ and, more recently, with Megan Fox on a Netflix original documentary which will bring him to Egypt this April as well as across South America.

Grace stated, “A big thank you to Magh Éne for inviting us back and for anyone who hasn’t seen it, it’s a must watch for anyone nostalgic for their school days!”

The film can be viewed on Donegal ETB’s YouTube account here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXOGFsFlT_0.

Magh Éne College will host its annual Open Night on Thursday 30 January 2020 at 7.30pm.