Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire

Michael Reid 

BA [Hons] Film + Television Production

Michael Reid is a director, writer, and sound designer based in Dublin. For his final year at the National Film School, he majored in Directing Fiction and minored in Sound Design. Michael is interested in telling darkly funny and extremely moving stories, concentrating on examining the most human elements of people and the most exaggerated parts of their emotional responses. Outside of college, Michael has experience working as a freelance videographer, a music video director, and a director of photography/main editor on the RTÉ music series "Sessions from Oblivion."

Sweet Wort (2022) - Final Year Graduate Film

Sweet Wort initially originated from a golfing trip that I went on with my father and uncle. One evening, the two of them were exchanging stories about my grandfather, whom I’d never had the pleasure of meeting, telling their tales with fondness and nostalgia. What emerged from these conversations was a profound interest in the strange dynamic between fathers and sons. Many people have positive relationships with their parents, despite their faults, but can still feel like they are unknowable. I always find myself writing about family, community, the past, and ageing. I’m drawn to stories about everyday people and the manners and mores of contemporary Ireland, with many of the characters, locations, and scenarios in the film based upon real parts of my life.



Intimacy on an Epic Scale: How Robert Altman creates a sense of intimacy in his 1975 magnum opus, Nashville.

Michael's dissertation investigates how filmmaker Robert Altman creates a sense of intimacy on an epic scale in his 1975 film, Nashville. Altman’s use of overlapping dialogue, ensemble casting, multiple storylines, and naturalism helped cement him as a true master of his craft. Nashville is the pinnacle of all these elements, often heralded as his magnum opus.
The film’s ambitious scope, with twenty-four major speaking roles, is made all the more impressive by the intimate moments captured throughout. Michael explores how Altman’s background and political beliefs, along with his incredibly intimate relationships with actors, alongside his truly innovative approach to sound design, all led to his masterfully intimate microcosm of 1975 America.