Brendan Mooney: ‘Memories of a Signwriter’
Charming short biopic about retired Irish signwriter Brendan Mooney from Birr, County Offaly.
Look out for a special announcement this time tomorrow from the team organising the international Letterheads meet in Amsterdam. It will come via the ‘Worldwide Events News’ list, with details of how to join the dedicated event newsletter.
“There’s always somebody better than you. And if you think you’re the very best, you’re a fool.”
These are just some of the wise words from Brendan Mooney in this charming short film about his work as a signwriter in Birr, Ireland. Produced by his daughter Naomi McArdle, and directed by David Cotter, the film honours Mooney’s decades of service to his local community and is laced with his cheeky sense of humour.
Memories of A Signwriter, Brendan Mooney (Birr), filmed by D Cotter, produced by N McArdle on YouTube.
I’ve often talked about the paucity of sign painters’ life stories in the historical record, especially compared to other proximal crafts. Films such as this one are important in redressing that imbalance, telling stories that could otherwise be forgotten. This was always the motivation behind the ‘When Better Letters Met’ series, and includes other productions such as the recently profiled Luis Benz short.
There are many short sign painter biopics among the film posts at bl.ag online. These include Behind the Sign, starring Earl Phillips (pictured in this photo by John Skrtic).
At their core, these films directly connect the viewer to the sign painters themselves, allowing their stories to be told in their own words. The same is true of the limited number of autobiographical works that have been written, eg those of Arthur Gill and Syl Ehr. In addition to conveying what happened and when, these first-hand narratives show us what makes the sign painters tick and, in some cases, what enrages them! Their personalities shine through, which is something that third-party accounts will always struggle to replicate.
So thank you to Naomi McArdle and David Cotter for adding Brendan Mooney’s story to this canon. And to Offaly County Council for funding the film’s production.
More People
Better Letters
More Films
Better Letters