Nicky Larkin

Writer/director born in Birr, Ireland, living and working in Belfast. Studied Fine Art in Galway and Chelsea College of Art, London. Worked primarily as a video installation artist before moving into filmmaking. His video art, sound pieces and installations have featured in the Chicago Art Fair, Videology Brooklyn, Optica Madrid, TULCA, EVA Limerick 2006 and 2009. He has held solo exhibitions in Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Frankfurt, and Enschede. In 2010 he was the youngest artist featured in Robert O' Byrne's 'Dictionary of Living Irish Artists'. In 2015 he wrote and directed his first drama, Too Shall Pass, starring Peter Campion, Gary Lydon and Denise McCormack, which screened at the Kinofilm Manchester Film Festival, the New York State Film Festival, Belfast Film Festival, OFFline Film Festival, and was nominated for two awards at the Portsmouth International Film Festival. His 2018 NI Screen-funded documentary Becoming Cherrie told the story of Belfast's most-loved drag queen Cherrie Ontop, aka performer Matthew Cavan, and his struggle for acceptance living with HIV in conservative Northern Irish society. Becoming Cherrie was nominated for 'Best British Short' in the Iris Prize in Cardiff, won 'Best Documentary' at the Oxford Short Film Festival 2020, 'Best LGBT Short' at the Bolton International Film Festival 2019, and screened at Dublin International Film Festival, Dinard Film Festival, Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, IndieCork, Docs Ireland, GAZE Film Festival, MixBrasil, Seoul Int. Pride Film Festival, Chicago Irish Film Festival, Irish Film Festival London, and at the Contemporary Irish Arts Centre Los Angeles. In 2019 he directed Cherrie, Me & HIV, a BBC NI True North doc expanding on Matthew's story. Cherrie, Me & HIV was broadcast in November 2019, and is currently available on the BBC iPlayer. In 2020 he completed his documentary Abomination, funded by Northern Ireland Screen, following The Belfast Ensemble as they created and staged their radical opera, using verbatim hate speech from the DUP. In 2020 he wrote and directed the comedy short Gone Viral, starring Steve Blount, Abigail McGibbon and Peter Campion. Funded by Northern Ireland Screen and produced by Green Dragon Media, Gone Viral recently won 'Best UK Short' at the North London Comedy Festival, and is being developed into a comedy series.