Projects In Development: An Tain the Ferdia

About this film.
This short film is based on a Celtic Myth namely “ An Tain”. It is only one chapter from a much bigger saga. This chapter centers on four main characters and a storyteller. The four characters are Queen Mebh, Fiona Dunn, Ferdia McDamáin and Cúchulainn along with the storyteller conveying the story to us the audience. The story is about two mighty bulls, the Brown Bull of Ulster and the White Bull of Connacht. These are no ordinary bulls they are mystical creatures of huge size and strength.

Queen Mebh of Connacht is married to King Ailill who owns the White Bull. This makes Mebh very jealous and decides that she must have the Brown Bull in order to better her husband. This is where the story truly begins.

At first Queen Mebh journeys to Ulster to bargain with Cúchulainn, she is refused her offer and in her rage threatens Cúchulainn. She threatens that she will have the Brown Bull of Ulster or there will be war and she will take it by force. But there is a problem the only man capable of beating Cúchulainn is his best friend and foster brother Ferdia McDamáin. This poses a problem for Queen Mebh.

So Queen Mebh hatches a plan. She kills Fiona Dunn, her hand-maiden and lover of Ferdia. Then she casts a spell on Ferdia making him think that his friend Cúchulainn had killed Fiona. Now Mebh has the motivation for Ferdia to battle Cúchulainn.
And so it is that Ferdia journeys to Ulster to fight his own foster brother. However after a long and bloody battle Ferdia comes off second best and loses his life. It is at this time that the spell lifts from him and he is reunited with his beloved Fiona.