IFTA First-Look Screening - PJ Harvey in a Dog Called Money

The Irish Film and Television Academy invites members to a special first-look screening of Seamus Murphy’s inspiring documentary PJ Harvey in A Dog Called Money, in association with Breakout Pictures.

A uniquely intimate journey through the inspiration, writing and recording of a PJ Harvey record, this feature documentary follows songwriter and musician Harvey and award-winning Irish photographer Seamus Murphy, as they hatch an ambitious collaboration. Seeking first-hand experience of the countries she wanted to write about, Harvey accompanied Murphy on some of his worldwide reporting trips, joining him in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Washington DC. Harvey collected words, Murphy collected images.

Back home, the words become poems, songs, then an album, which is recorded in an unprecedented art experiment in Somerset House, London. In a specially constructed room behind one-way glass, the public - all cameras surrendered - are invited to watch the 5 week process as a live sound-sculpture. Murphy exclusively documents the experiment with the same forensic vision and private access as their travels.

By capturing the immediacy of their encounters with the people and places they visited, Murphy shows the humanity at the heart of the work, tracing the sources of the songs, their special metamorphosis into recorded music, and, ultimately, cinema.

Seamus Murphy will participate in a Q&A after the screening.

PJ Harvey in A Dog Called Money releases in Irish cinemas on November 22nd.