(; "A Night of

Storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...

"; variously given as ''The Storyteller, The Story Teller, Storyteller's Night, Night of Story-telling'') is a 1935 Irish film directed by

Robert J. Flaherty Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, '' Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputati ...

, who was also the cinematographer for the film. It was produced during the sound recording session for his more famous

docufiction Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary film, documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or ciné ...

film ''

Man of Aran ''Man of Aran'' is a 1934 Irish fictional documentary ( ethnofiction) film shot, written and directed by Robert J. Flaherty about life on the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. It portrays characters living in premodern condition ...

'' in London, and is notable as the first

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

sync sound Sync sound (synchronized sound recording) refers to sound recorded at the time of the filming of movies. It has been widely used in movies since the birth of sound movies. History Even in the silent film era, films were shown with sounds, often ...

film in the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

period.

Production

''Oidhche Sheanchais'' was filmed at Gaumont Studios.

Plot

Four islanders (who are actually the cast of ''

'') are gathered around the hearth. The film begins with an excerpt of a traditional sean-nós song performed by Maggie Tom Ní Mhaoláin (Maggie Dirrane).

Seanchaí A seanchaí ( or ; plural: ) is a traditional Gaelic storyteller or historian, serving as an oral repository. In Scottish Gaelic the word is (; plural: ). The word is often anglicised as shanachie ( ). The word , which was spelled (plural ...

Seáinín Tom Ó Dioráin tells a traditional story called ''Máirtín Mac an Rí'', a version of the maritime folk legend '' The Knife against the Wave''. In the story, a fisherman successfully defends himself against the onslaught of a supernatural storm at sea by casting his knife against an oncoming wave; he is later summoned to the

Otherworld In historical Indo-European religion, the concept of an otherworld, also known as an otherside, is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other world/side"), a term used by Lucan in his desc ...

, where he learns that with his knife cast he injured a

fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

woman, whom he can only heal by removing the knife; upon doing so, he is rewarded. Versions of the legend are common in other parts of Europe, including

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Loss and rediscovery

The film opened in a small number of cinemas in Dublin and Cork on St. Patrick's Day in 1935. The press reaction was generally favourable with reviewers impressed by the seanchaí's performance. A critic from ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' praised the film, although he did not understand Irish. But the public's reaction was one of apathy and it was withdrawn from general release after a week or two. A fire was believed to have destroyed all copies in 1943, but a

nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . salt (chemistry), Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are solubility, soluble in wa ...

distribution print was re-cataloged in 2012 in

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, Lamont Library, and Loeb House, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library s ...

and soon pointed out by researchers. A restored 35 mm version was premiered in 2015. This version is only 11 minutes in length. Other records of a 20-minute version featuring exterior shots of the cottage appear to have been erroneous. In November 2016, the film received its first ever television broadcast on TG4, Ireland's national language station. It was preceded by a 38 minute documentary called ''Oíche Chaillte an tSeanchaí (The Lost Night of the Storyteller)''. Directed by Kieran Concannon, this gave the background story of ''Oidhche Sheanchais''.

References

*Ó hÍde, Tomás, ''Seáinín Tom Sheáin: From Árainn to the Silver Screen'', Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann (Four Courts Press), 2019.

External links

* * {{Robert J. Flaherty 1935 films Films directed by Robert Flaherty British black-and-white films Irish-language films Irish black-and-white films Gainsborough Pictures films Films set in Ireland Films shot in Ireland Works about storytelling 1930s rediscovered films Rediscovered Irish films 1930s Irish films

Production

Plot

Loss and rediscovery

See also

References

External links