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Kathryn Ferguson

@kathrynferguson

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Co-Founder @tarafilms
NOTHING COMPARES (@sundanceorg 2022)
NOSTALGIE (@bafta nominee, @iftaacademy winner 2026)
Now making MATRESCENCE 🍄

POSTS STORIES REELS

@nostalgie_short_film has been @bafta nominated!

Huge thanks and a massive well done to our magnificent team and incredible partners. by @kathrynferguson

It is with huge excitement that I can finally share the news that we have optioned @lucyfjones majestic, firebrand of a book Matrescence. Since becoming a mother myself five years ago it’s been fairly impossible to put the psychological, emotional and physical experience into words. Lucy managed to do this in the most remarkable way and that is why Matrescence has become a cult classic and best seller in its short existence. We are honoured to be turning this book into a powerful cinematic documentary that will strip away the veil of motherhood and focus in on the radical science behind this transition, whilst exposing the systemic failings in mother care and the cosmic alchemy that occurs when life is formed. At a time when outdated patriarchal systems are dominating so much of our world, we hope that by shining a light on the matriarchal experience, we can create something timely and necessary.
This project will be a co-production between @tarafilms and the brilliant Rosie Crerar of @barrycrerar and has been selected for the MeetMarket at @sheffdocfest next month. Huge thanks to @screenscots for being an early partner on this project.
Looking forward to sharing updates as we go!
#matrescence by @kathrynferguson

Beyond thrilled to share the news that my debut feature documentary, NOTHING COMPARES, has been invited to premiere as part of the World Cinema Documentary competition at this year's @Sundance.org Film Festival. NOTHING COMPARES tells the story of Sinéad O’Connor's phenomenal rise to worldwide fame, and how her iconoclastic personality resulted in her exile from the pop mainstream. Focusing on her prophetic words and deeds across a five-year period (1987-1992), the film reflects on the legacy of this fearless trailblazer, through a contemporary feminist lens. We (@eleanor_emptage and Michael Mallie) at Tara Films and Ard Mhacha Productions, the film’s editor @mickmahon13 and all involved have been working our wee butts off to get this film finished. When we began this project four years ago it felt like a pipe-dream and christ it’s been the wildest of rides but we are very nearly ready to share. Utterly honoured to tell this important story. Huge thanks to everyone involved and for the support @fieldofvision @britishfilminstitute @thedocsociety @screenireland @ni_screen Utah baby, here we go! #sundance by @kathrynferguson

Quite unbelievable news to share.😮
@nostalgie_short_film has just been named a contender for Best Live Action Short at this year’s @theacademy Awards. Thank you @hollywoodreporter
This deserves a big Belfast yeeeooo! by @kathrynferguson

We are very excited to share Kathryn Ferguson’s “Nostalgie” as a Staff Pick Premiere! Starring Aidan Gillen and shot by Robbie Ryan, this Irish short premiered at the @britishfilminstitute London Film Festival, won at @iftaacademy for Best Short Film, and earned a @bafta nomination.

A faded 80s pop star from England is invited to perform at an event in Belfast. Hoping to recapture his glory days, he arrives in a divided city he doesn’t understand, only to confront a disturbing truth that changes everything.

Addressing the intersections of music, politics, and power, “Nostalgie” is a thought-provoking watch. Stream now at the link in bio (outside the UK and Ireland), with director’s commentary from Kathryn 🎤

Directed by @kathrynferguson
Written by @gregglesstacey
Based on a short story by @wednesdayerskin
Producers: @kathmattock Marc Robinson @heyrobbo74, and Marie-Thérèse Mackle @bettybathsheba
Production Companies: @umusicglobeuk @film4 Hopefield @ieentertainment Stille Productions and @tarafilms
Exec Producers: Amy O’Hara @amy_rosanna @lucyapullin Neil Chordia @neilchord, Tim Clark, and @eleanor_emptage
Starring Aidan Gillen, and featuring @jjessicareynolds , @seamus_oharah Sean Kearns & Michael Smiley, Pat Lynch and Ciaran Flynn
Shot by Robbie Ryan
Original songs and score from Dan Smith @bastilledan
Casting: @shaheenbaigcasting and Mary Ellen O’Hara @coaching_casting_intimacy
Studio Producer: @johndrummyreynolds
Sound Recordist: Daniel McCabe @danieldavidmccabe
Editing: Mick Mahon @mickmahon13 and Edel McDonnell @taloolie
Costume designer @this_is_timmy_white
Production designer Heather Greenless
@heathergreenlees
Art Director: Annie McCredie @anniemc871
Makeup Designer: David McAneaney @david_mcaneaney
Hair Designer: Stephen McCusker @stephenmccuskerbespoke
First Assistant Director: Scott McCutcheon @south_parade
Gaffer Andy Cole and Simon Magee
Grade: @faithmillincolour
Re-recording Mixer: Nas Parkash
Post: @washldn @molinarepost
Location Manager: Catherine Geary @graceandnature and William Preston @trialbypanther
Production Manager: @aineowensfisher
Production Assistant: isararose
Graphics and Poster: @__anna__morrison__
Stills: Nathan Magee @papert by @kathrynferguson

So happy to share that @sundanceorg have backed Matrescence with a Documentary Fund production grant. The festival team were such a great support with Nothing Compares in 2022, so it’s wonderful to be continuing our journey together with this new film. I’m so proud of this one already, and grateful to be on this film journey with comrades @eleanor_emptage @tarafilms and Rosie Crerar @barrycrerar

Motherhood in the West is deeply problematic, shaped by systems rooted in patriarchy, racism and capitalism, making it almost impossible for mothers to thrive. During development and now into production, we’ve watched the growing news coverage of the systemic failings mothers face postpartum, set against the radical new science trying to understand and protect women from those failings. The stats around maternal mental health right now are truly startling. Using @lucyfjones cult book as our North Star, we’re meeting world-leading scientists, biologists, grassroots community leaders, lobbyists, birth activists, midwives and most importantly birthing people, as we work out how we’ve got here and how meaningful change happens.

Huge thanks to @sundanceorg @sandboxfilms and @screenscots for their support along the way.

#matrescence #sundance by @kathrynferguson

Thank you to @iftaacademy and @redbreastirishwhiskey for hosting a special evening celebrating @nostalgie_short_film in Dublin on Tuesday evening. It was a really lovely night, the screening was followed by a Q&A with @mickmahon13 one of the film’s editors, and @bettybathsheba one of the producers and a drinks reception where we got to meet lots of brilliant young filmmakers.

It was a surreal night to be screening a film about the legacy of male violence in Belfast, while on that very same night Belfast was burning with a new wave of male violence, stoked by the poison of the far-right, racist and patriarchal rhetoric sweeping through these lands. The North of Ireland has one of the highest rates of femicide in Europe, where were these men after the brutal deaths of the thirty women killed since 2020?

We were also meant to screen the film at the #BelfastBookFestival @crescentartscentre last night celebrating @wednesdayerskin and her brilliant writing but the event was cancelled as the city was shut down due to fears of further violence.

It is a travesty to witness this in my hometown in 2026 and deeply worrying.

If you are in Belfast on Saturday, please join the @unitedagainstracismireland march in solidarity with the communities who have been made to feel like strangers in their own city. by @kathrynferguson

Nostalgie
@nostalgie_short_film

Set in Belfast, Nostalgie explores memory, identity, and the lingering disconnect between the North of Ireland and England, written by one of Belfast’s finest, Wendy Erskine @wednesdayerskin and adapted for screen by another of Belfast’s finest, Stacey Gregg @gregglesstacey

Production - Stille Productions, Hopefield, Globe, Film4 @film4, IE Entertainment @ieentertainment & Tara Films @tarafilms @umusicglobeuk
Exec Producers - Amy O’Hara, Lucy Pullin, Neil Chordia, Tim Clark, and Eleanor Emptage @amy_rosanna @lucyapullin @neilchordia, @eleanor_emptage
Producers - Kath Mattock, Marc Robinson @heyrobbo74, and Marie-Thérèse Mackle @bettybathsheba
Director - Kathryn Ferguson @kathrynferguson
DOP - Robbie Ryan

Colourist - Faith Millin @faithmillincolour
Post Producer - Dan Smith @disfordisco
Colour Assistant - Ruby Cameron @rubylilycolour
VFX - Jon Evans @washldn

Starring Aidan Gillen, and featuring @jjessicareynolds , @seamus_oharah Sean Kearns & Michael Smiley, Pat Lynch and Ciaran Flynn
Original songs and score - Dan Smith @bastilledan
Casting - @shaheenbaigcasting and Mary Ellen O’Hara @coaching_casting_intimacy
Studio Producer - @johndrummyreynolds
Sound Recordist - Daniel McCabe @danieldavidmccabe
Editing - Mick Mahon @mickmahon13 and Edel McDonnell @taloolie
Costume Designer - @this_is_timmy_white
Production Designer - Heather Greenless @heathergreenlees
Art Director - Annie McCredie @anniemc871
Makeup Designer - David McAneaney @david_mcaneaney
Hair Designer - Stephen McCusker @stephenmccuskerbespoke
First Assistant Director - Scott McCutcheon @south_parade
Gaffer - Andy Cole and Simon Magee
Re-recording Mixer - Nas Parkash
Post: - @molinarepost
Location Manager - Catherine Geary @graceandnature and William Preston @trialbypanther
Production Manager - @aineowensfisher
Production Assistant - isararose
Graphics and Poster - @__anna__morrison__
Stills - Nathan Magee @papertreeees

#colourgrading #gradedatwash #nostalgie #shortfilm #Belfast by @kathrynferguson

🎨🎉📽️🎞️ New @Talkart podcast! Robert meets Belfast-born Kathryn Ferguson @KathrynFerguson an Emmy and BAFTA nominated, BIFA and IFTA winning director whose innovative and boundary-pushing documentary work has screened globally. We explore art as activism and how film has the power to reveal, and amplify, untold stories.

Kathryn studied at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art, and in 2022 was awarded the inaugural BFI & Chanel Award for Creative Audacity.

In 2018, Kathryn’s short documentary Taking the Waters about Margate’s open water swimming premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest, and was BAFTA long-listed. Then, in 2021, Kathryn worked with Passion Pictures on the short Space to Be for The Guardian’s acclaimed documentary series.

After a decade of short-form work centred on identity, gender politics, and community, Kathryn recently completed her debut feature documentary Nothing Compares - which takes as its subject Sinéad O’Connor’s artistry and activism. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2022 then toured the international festival circuit, where it picked up multiple awards, before hitting cinemas in October 2022. It has received over thirty award nominations internationally, including Emmy, Critics Choice, IDA, and PGA Awards, and was awarded winner of Best Feature Documentary at BIFA 2022 and IFTA 2023.

Her second feature, Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes (Universal), was released in US cinemas in 2024.

In 2024 she also co-founded Tara Films with producer Eleanor Emptage; their latest, Blue Road - The Edna O’Brien Story, premiered at TIFF 2024, and the company is currently developing a slate of non-fiction and drama projects. Alongside her film work, Ferguson has directed campaigns for Nike, Selfridges, Amnesty International, and Air France, and collaborated with artists such as Lady Gaga and Neneh Cherry.

Nostalgie, Kathryn’s first drama short starring Aiden Gillen, about a faded 80’s pop star, has recently been nominated for a BAFTA and won Best Short Film at the IFTAs 2026. The film is available to watch on Channel 4.

🔗 Follow @KathrynFerguson & @TaraFilms

🎶🎥 Nothing Compares is available to watch on Showtime and Sky by @kathrynferguson

Huge thanks to @Screendaily for including @tarafilms in their spotlight “11 UK film documentary companies with exciting projects in the works”.

Wonderful to see Tara included in this line up of UK doc companies we so admire. What a great group to be included in!

Thanks so much to Mona Tabbara for the interview and for thinking of us.

More updates on our slate coming soon. by @kathrynferguson

We’re thrilled to announce that acclaimed director and writer Kathryn Ferguson will join us as special guest interviewer for
Louis Theroux in Conversation ✨

Kathryn Ferguson is a Belfast-born, Emmy- and BAFTA-nominated director and writer for her bold, boundary-pushing documentaries. She received
the inaugural BFI & Chanel Award for Creative Audacity in 2022, the same year her debut feature Nothing Compares premiered at Sundance, winning multiple awards including two BIFAs and an IFTA, and earning over thirty nominations including an Emmy and Critics Choice.

In 2024, she co-founded Tara Films with producer Eleanor Emptage; their latest film, Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story, premiered at TIFF 2024. Alongside her film work, Ferguson has directed campaigns for Nike, Selfridges, Amnesty International and Air France, and collaborated with artists including Lady Gaga and Neneh Cherry. Her first drama short, Nostalgie, made with Film4, was recently nominated for both the BAFTA
and IFTA 2026 for Best Short Film, winning the IFTA.

We’re delighted to have Kathryn in conversation with Louis Theroux for what’s set to be a truly compelling and unmissable evening.

This event is now sold out. To add your name and email to the waiting list, please head to the ticket link.

www.cqaf.com by @kathrynferguson

Still feeling the buzz from last week’s brilliant CPH:DOX, where we presented our new film Matrescence in the Forum.

Always inspiring to see such vibrant and bold work being made internationally, and to spend time with our pals in the documentary community. A lot of fun was had!

To top it all off, we were surprised and delighted to walk away with the Sandbox Films Science Pitch Prize.

Special thanks to @cphdox @sandboxfilms and @screenscots and also to @britisharts for supporting our attendance by @kathrynferguson