Johanna Isaacson
In March 2025 Aislinn Clarke visited my alma mater, University of California, Santa Cruz as part of a symposium exploring creative and critical intersections in the work of UCSC and Queens University Belfast faculty. I was fortunate to attend a screening of Aislinn’s amazing new folk horror film, Fréwaka, and to have the opportunity, along with Literature professor Renée Fox, to interview the writer/director in front of a live audience.
Fréwaka is an atmospheric, brilliantly-acted, Irish language film in which Shoo (Clare Monnelly), a young woman grieving her recently deceased mother, is sent to a rural town to care for Peig (Bríd Ní Neachtain), a disabled older woman whose home is either haunted by fearful memories or demonic fairies. The women seem to be opposites and antagonists, but, like the thorny roots which give their name to the film, their struggles and lives are complexly tangled.
Aislinn is very busy screening Fréwaka at festivals around the world, where it has been received with great enthusiasm in anticipation of its release on Shudder this week (Friday April 25, 2025). However, she still generously agreed to an interview between California and Ireland via Zoom.
