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PODIUM FINISH Blinder Films are packing their bag
s for SXSW again this spring. After debuting Extra Ordinary there last year, they return with Kieron J. Walsh’s The Racer which is based around the visit of the Tour de France to Ireland in 1998. Co-written with Ciaran Cassidy, it concerns doping and ethics and has been selected to show in the ‘Narrative Spotlight’ section. The Racer joins an elite selection of 102 ‘features and episodics’ being screened over nine days selected from 2,316 feature-length submissions and over 8,362 overall submissions. A release here is expected later in the year. Friday March 13 to Friday March 21 sxsw.com/festivals/film ROADMAP Michael McDermott RAGE (BAKE) AGAINST THE MACHINE BREAD AND BUTTER Brennan’s, Tayto and Kerrygold are three of the most distinctive Irish brands in existence. They don’t merely satiate hunger but evoke memories and feel like the fabric of being Irish. Now they’re also part of Sorcha O’Raw’s goldwork series. “As a technique it oozes decadence and is a clear symbol of the value of whatever it depicts. Historically used by the military and the church to communicate their wealth and power, I’ve been using it to try and communicate a kind of emotional wealth, looking at what we as a country value most.” While she’s had commissions, she’s not quitting the day job as a tailor in the Levis Store on Grafton Street and is going back to do a Masters in Cultural Policy and Arts Management in UCD in September. “My idol in the embroidery world is definitely Katie Tume a.k.a Mother Eagle. She does most divine portraits of endangered and extinct animals.” @sorchaoraw 8 They’re gearing up for another presidential election Stateside and what better way to host those ‘kitchen’ conversations than with some flour and fury! Rage Baking gathers 50+ recipes, short essays, and quotes from some of the best bakers, activists, and outspoken women in the U.S. today. It encourages women “to use sugar and sass as a way to defend, resist, and protest.” An Irish equivalent will, sadly, be too late for our election but seems like low-hanging fruit for a smart publisher here! Edited by Katherine Alford and Kathy Gunst, Tiller Press, $24.99