Cavan Arts Festival
Cavan Community Cinema
Cavan Community Cinema brings films to communities across Cavan and the border region to foster connection, creativity, and cross-community engagement. It uses shared film experiences to strengthen community ties, promote wellbeing, and celebrate diverse voices.
Saturday 26th Sept, 7pm
Townhall Arts Centre
Born That Way
A film about Care. And Love. And Patrick Lydon.
Admission: Free, but registration is required.
Join us for a special screening of Born That Way, a tender and thought-provoking film about care, love, community and the extraordinary life of Patrick Lydon. Following the screening, stay for a conversation and Q&A with filmmaker Éamon Little, Patrick’s wife Gladys and John Clark, co-founder with the Lydons of Camphill Ballytobin and composer of music for the film. This will be a unique opportunity to hear more about Patrick’s story, the making of the film and the ideas of community, inclusion and care at its heart. Come along for an inspiring evening of film, conversation and connection.
In a small wooden house in County Kilkenny, Ireland, Patrick Lydon’s life is ebbing away. Throughout his final year he reflects on an extraordinary life that took him from a budding career in rock journalism in America to trailblazing in Ireland with his wife, Gladys, the development of the radically inclusive Camphill Movement, sharing life in community with people of diverse needs, abilities and backgrounds. Patrick’s story calls forth the story of Camphill itself, and articulates the impulse driving an approach to life struggling for survival in today’s consumerist climate. At a time when the world is in need of inspiration, Patrick and Gladys’ story is just the ticket.
Through family involvement with Camphill, director Éamon Little (co-writer of That They May Face the Rising Sun) was a long-time friend of Patrick and Gladys Lydon. Given intimate access throughout Patrick’s final illness, this tender, provocative love story celebrates community spirit, disability, inclusion and otherness.
After taking home the Dublin Film Critics’ Circle Best Irish Documentary Award at its 2025 World Premiere, the film also won the prestigious Gamble-Paison Prize for Best International Feature Film at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival in Vermont, USA in 2026. Don’t miss your chance to see it on the big screen in Cavan.
Cavan Community Cinema is an initiative of Cavan Arts Festival, supported by Cavan County Council PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
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Official Cavan Arts Festival Programme 2026
A magical four days & nights of art & culture in the heart of Cavan Town