“DESPERATELY MOVING, BEAUTIFULLY MADE. ESSENTIAL VIEWING”
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IRISH TIMES
News
March 2025
Born That Way was awarded The Dublin Film Critics’ Circle Best Irish Documentary Award at the Dublin International Film Festival after its World Premiere there on February 28, 2025.
August 2026
We are delighted to share that Born That Way has just been awarded The Gamble-Paison Prize for Best International Feature Film at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival in Vermont, USA. The film will screen at that festival on Friday, August 28, 2026 at 11:30 - see Events page.
BORN THAT WAY
A film about Care. And Love. And Patrick Lydon.
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.