The Festival That Dodged The Pandemic

• Photographer
  Deirdre Brennan
• Agency / Studio
  Deirdre Brennan Photographer

I was commissioned to by The Dublin International Film Festival to produce a series of portraits of the participating actors and directors. On March 27th Leo Varadkar introduced a mandatory order for everyone to stay at home. As the impact of the global pandemic hit around the world, many arts events and festivals were cancelled or postponed or went online. The Irish Times said ‘ VMDIFF 2020 looks like the last film festival to escape unscathed before the plague of cancellations set in. They were, if anything, blessed.’

A graduate of The National College of Art and Design, Deirdre Brennan worked as a photojournalist and documentary photographer in New York for over a decade. On contract with The New York Times since 2000, her work has been published throughout the world in titles such as The New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, Portrait of Humanity, Stern, Marie Claire, Sports Illustrated, The Hollywood Reporter, Panorama, American Photography, Vice, Mother Jones, The Smithsonian and The London Sunday Times.