On going home

At 16-years-old, Hassan Beickhorasani fled the oncoming revolution in Iran and ended up in Coleraine. Now his son Fabian, born and brought up in Northern Ireland, returns to see a country, and meet a family, for the first time.

Director Phil Harrison was born in Belfast in 1975. Educated at Belfast Royal Academy and Queen’s University (a Masters degree in postcolonial literature and theology). He wrote and directed his first narrative short film in 2011, Even Gods, which won the Best Short Film Award at the Belfast Film Festival, Galway Film Fleadh, and Cork Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Cork Film Festival, and the Special Jury Recognition at Aspen Shortsfest. It was shortlisted for Best Short Script at the Irish Screenwriting Awards in 2012. The Irish Film & Television Network called Harrison “an exciting new voice in Irish cinema.” The film has now screened in over twenty countries around the world. He went on to write and direct a narrative feature, The Good Man, which was released in 2014. Variety described it as “daring in its structure and disquieting in its message”, and Film Ireland noted the “finely tuned, well balanced script...powerful yet understated performances”. His first short documentary was completed early in 2016, On Going Home, set in Ireland and Iran. It was acquired by BBC.