Games & Stones

Two documentaries I enjoyed at the 2025 Galway Film Fleadh

Dear word explorer,

Thank you for the good wishes and congratulations regarding my World Fantasy Award nomination! I am already worrying if this is too many times to mention it and I will be labelled an insufferable boar.

‘The Calydonian Boar Hunt’ by Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1611/12. AKA ‘She just wouldn’t stop going on about it!’

People’s goodwill quickly withers with an onslaught of repetition. The difficultly with the modern reliance on social media is that dedicated readers see your news five times via five different platforms, while the algorithm prevents the wider public from ever discovering it.

My previous tack was to rejoice discretely after good news, and never mention it twice.

I find self-publicity difficult, and at times, agonising. ‘Self praise is no praise’, was a common admonishment I heard growing up in Ireland. Possessing a ‘big head’ or getting ‘too big for their boots’ were dreadful insults. We were supposed to radiate saintly contentment after a personal triumph without a suggestion of smugness. Other people were allowed champion us, but we would always have to murmur, ‘Ah, stop it now. You’re too kind.’ The problem with this dynamic is it encourages a weird helplessness. We achieve an honour but become embarrassed about mentioning it. Then we quietly resent why so few people know about it!

I have always admired people who promote their successes in a breezy self-confident manner. It’s a type of chill exuberance that can be an innate part of the personality. It’s why we don’t mind the success of some people and scowl at the ‘brazenness’ of others.¹

I’ve been pondering the extremes of modesty versus conceit recently. I’m generally a middle path kind of person but when it comes to reporting on my news I have tended to keep to the quieter lanes shadowed by overhanging brambles.

So last week I did something rather uncharacteristic and set about promoting my nomination to news outlets — especially regional ones. I figured ‘local girl does well’ might get some traction. With all the emphasis on social media people forget newspapers and radio, which remain popular in Ireland.

That’s how I ended up on a short segment on ‘Galway Talks with John Morley’ on Galway Bay FM studios this morning (I speak at the 39:39 mark). I really appreciate them giving me the time to discuss my story ‘Raptor’, the Heartwood anthology, and the World Fantasy Awards in general. I’ve experience doing film/book reviews and cultural commentary on radio and for podcasts. It’s something I enjoy doing, so it was fun to get back into a studio.

‘The Sound of Galway’ by Maura McHugh, 2025.

July in Galway is festival season. We have the one-week Galway Film Fleadh² followed by the two-week Galway International Arts Festival and finish up with the Galway Races. The city heaves with tourists.

During the Arts Festival (which began on Monday) at any moment you can stumble upon revellers enjoying the Silent Disco Walking Tours, or enjoy drinks at the Festival Garden in Eyre Square, or watch the giant insects of Planète Vapeur’s Microcosmos amble through the streets. There are an enormous number of special events taking place in every available space, including the Big (Blue) Top where the special musical acts take centre stage. The city embraces joy and exudes energy.

‘Blue Reflections’ by Maura McHugh, 2025.

Last week, during the Fleadh, I attended several films, but I’d like to highlight two. Game On is a documentary about Brenda Romero, a BAFTA-winning Games Designer, who lives in Galway with her husband John Romero. After their first visit to Ireland (during Brenda’s Fulbright Specialist Award) they fell in love with the community of games developers in Galway, and decided to move their family and company, Romero Games, from the USA.

Since then they have built a reputation as a company that not only works hard to produce high quality work but also strives to treat their staff with exemplary fairness (I may be biased since I know Brenda and John, and many of their employees). I was aware of some of Brenda’s history, but it was eye-opening to grasp the extent of her extraordinary understanding of games and how she naturally applies it to many aspects of her life.

The documentary was written and directed by Theresa Loong (you can read her newsletter here:

Game On by Theresa Loong

) and was shot over many years as Brenda led the creation of Romero Games 2020 Video Game, Empire of Sin.

It’s an inspiring and warm depiction of a woman —and family— who are dedicated to the art and culture of Games. I was particularly impressed with Brenda’s insight into how games can engage people with difficult topics.

She created a series of board games that became collectively known as The Mechanic is the Message to demonstrate dreadful moments in history such as ‘The New World’ (the American slave trade), ‘Síochán Leat’ (the Cromwellian disruption of Irish populations), and ‘Train’ (the Holocaust). It transforms abstract moments in history and makes them concrete by presenting them as a series of game mechanics for a ‘player’ to navigate. The reality, and fragility, of people’s lives is rendered stark and devastating.

This is a powerful tribute to a woman who has forged a trail-blazing career in games, and most recently, literary fiction, and has lived and loved game design her whole life.

Maeve McGrath (Director of Programming), Manchán Magan, Maurice O’Brien and Zlata Filipnovic. (Credit: Maura McHugh, 2025)

The other highlight for me was the premiere of the feature-length documentary, Listen to the Land Speak, narrated by Manchán Magan, directed by Maurice O’Brien and produced by Zlata Filipnovic for award-winning production company, Crossing the Line.

Listen to the Land Speak sees Manchán Magan reveal the profound knowledge and wisdom contained in our [Irish] landscape and myths. The film unfolds from Winter Solstice to Bealtaine through Reek Sunday to Samhain, exploring how the stories and myths associated with the rivers, mountains and lands around us are crucial to unlocking aspects of how we need to rebuild our relationship with nature today. But it also becomes an unexpectedly personal story as Manchán realises that there is a serious illness within himself that makes him see these ancient sites and beliefs in a whole new light

The film is a condensed version of a two-part TV documentary, the first part of which will air on RTÉ One on Thursday, 17th July at 10:10 pm.

I regularly experience a profound connection with the Irish landscape, and I’ve explored many of the extraordinary sites (standing stone circles and passage tombs) that are featured in the documentary, so it’s wonderful to see Manchán vibrate with awe and reverence for these special places. Then there are the layers of mythology that settle upon them like a complicated patchwork.

Much has been removed from our history, but what is left is wonder and appreciation for these incredible earth works carefully aligned to celestial movements and topological features by our ancestors.

This is a marvellous celebration of these ancient sites with stunning visuals aided by DOP Michael O'Donovan³, beautiful music by Michael Fleming, and Manchán’s English/Irish commentary. I’m looking forward to watching the longer version so I can sink anew into the mystery and magic of our earliest sacred spaces.

I hope it will inspire Irish people to go out and respectfully engage with our stone heritage.

‘Listen to the Land Speak’ with Manchán Magan.

1. Yes, of course, some people are blowhards, but they are easy to spot by the number of people slipping away from their proximity.

2. Fleadh is the Irish word for Festival.

3. O’Donovan also won the Fleadh’s ‘Best Cinematography in an Irish Film Award’, beating out all the fiction films.