Young Leitrim director to Debut Film at Dublin Film Festival

Leitrim’s young filmmaker Olivia Louise Courto will make her Irish film debut as her short film My Way premieres at Dublin’s International Film Festival (DIFF) on February 28th.

“It’s a short film that is very personal to me, and I’m very excited to see what everybody thinks about it. It’s exciting as a young filmmaker to have it premiere in such an important festival,” says Olivia.

The film follows a young girl, Evelyn, as she struggles with the learning disability dyscalculia, which affects her ability to work with numbers.

“I feel like this story challenges traditional ideas of intelligence and especially, I would think, it emphasizes that success isn’t a one-size-fits-all,” says Olivia, who struggled with the condition herself growing up.

The 18-year-old, who started making films when she was about twelve, has already shown her promise as a filmmaker, having previously won Best Direction at the REC Youth Film Festival and Second Place at Fresh Film Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year 2024.

The film examines traditional ideas of learning, which is something Olivia also has thought about as someone who was homeschooled and had to become able to learn herself.

"I was never confined to a single way of learning. I was able to think independently, explore new ideas freely, and most importantly, grow up knowing that my passions mattered," she says.

“I’m a firm believer that, you know, everyone has different tastes in, I don’t know, music. They also have different tastes in learning, and they all learn in different ways. And I’ve had the time to understand what really helps me with this,” she says.

This film, which is set in Leitrim and hosts a full Leitrim cast, shows off the young director’s connection to the county while making use of the area’s natural landscapes, with its forests, lakes, and winding roads, which mirror Evelyn’s journey to find her own way to learn.

Olivia, who is Italian-American and who originally grew up in Milan, moved to Leitrim with her family about six years ago after her mother fell in love with Ireland. She is eager to show off Leitrim in the film, which will be available on the RTÉ Player, on the 1st of March, after the Dublin Film Festival.

“I’ve always loved Ireland and staying here, and Leitrim, especially … I just really wanted to show the beauty of Leitrim because, you know, people just don’t take it into account,” she says.

Despite Leitrim having a rich history of producing writers like John McGahern and Seamus O’Rourke, not many film directors have come out of the county, but Olivia is finding her way in the craft early as one of only eight young directors selected to take part in the Fresh Film Hothouse Project from around the country.

Olivia made her film with the help of the Fresh Film Hothouse Project, which was a collaboration between Fresh Film, RTÉ, and Screen Ireland, designed to support and promote the next generation of filmmakers by providing young independent creators with a safe creative space to develop their ideas and projects.

 "Fresh Film, RTÉ, and Screen Ireland provided incredible support throughout the process ... They let the filmmakers do their thing, but they are always there to support us,” says Olivia.

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