Brendan
Grant

Brendan Grant was born in 1974 in Ireland and studied Art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. He soon received international acclaim for his sculptures and was invited to London and Florence as an Artist-in-Residence in the years 1997 and 1998. In 1998, he received a fellowship from the Irish Arts Council for his work. During the same year, Brendan Grant turned increasingly to filmmaking and finally completed a course of graduate study on Film Design. He collected practical experience as a cameraman, as well as in a project for the rehabilitation of young offenders; this was intended to promote their reintegration into society by means of collaborative work on a film. He realised his first two short films during this time.

In 2001, Brendan Grant registered at the National Film and Television School in London, where he made further short films, most recently “London Fields are Blue” – the story of an unusual assault. “London Fields are Blue” (2004) was shown at numerous international film festivals, was numbered among the Best British Short Films of the year 2004 and received the “Silver Award” in Karlovy Vary.

In 2004/2005, Brendan Grant received a fellowship from the Cinéfondation of the International Film Festival Cannes. During this period, commissioned by the BBC, he wrote the screenplay for his first full-length feature film “The Capture and Freedom of Steven H”, which was shot in summer 2005.

Brendan Grant has also made frequent studies on the theory of film: his dissertation, published in 2004, is concerned with the subject of “Aids in Film”. In Berlin, he would like to complete a book on film and technology. But above all, during his time in Berlin, Brendan Grant would like to work on his second feature film project, a road movie about two men from Northern Ireland. The search for a happier life leads them from Belfast to Berlin and finally as far as Moscow. This film intends to take an unprejudiced, fresh look at today’s Europe – seen through the eyes of the curious traveller. Brendan Grant lives and works in Clonmel, Ireland.