JOE COMERFORD

Comerford was born in 1947 in Dublin, Ireland, graduating from the National College of Art and Design in the 1960s. In the 1970s, he began working for RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster, where he learned camera operating and general studio production. Two years later, he left RTE to make independent films. In 1969, he made Swan Alley. His first public short, Emtigon (1971) was followed by Withdrawal (1973) and Down the Corner (1977). He has directed three feature films – Traveller (1981), Reefer and the Model (1988) and High Boot Benny (1993). All his films share a general concern for those on the margins of what was an increasingly-affluent Irish society.
His short Waterbag (1984) was funded by the arts council and Irish Film Board.
Comeford's films of the 1970s and 1980s featured dysfunctional familial settings, as analogous to Ireland's political and religious conditions at the time. His early films have been described as challenging to watch, as they often do not follow a linear narrative, but move forward as a series of vignettes.