Ballymote native Elva will appear on the silver screen in two films this week in Sligo
When cinema goers head for Sligo Omniplex this week they’ ll get a pleasant surprise to see Ballymote native, Elva Trill in two films.
The most well known will be Stephen Burke’s, Maze which stars Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and recounts the escape of 38 IRA prisoners from the prison in 1983 but also showing for a week will be Soulsmith filmed in the summer of 2015 and which was written and directed by Castlebar native Kevin Henry.
Elva plays the wife of a deceased hunger striker in Maze.
The filming of Soulsmith filming took place in Mayo and Dublin. The story follows Ed O’Brien, a playwright based in Dublin who is struggling professionally after earlier successes. He returns to the west of Ireland for his father’s funeral, reconnects with old friends and with the place he used to call home. Entirely self funded the film premiered to a sold out audience at the 2016 Cork Film Festival, Ireland’s oldest film festival. Following on from this the film played at festivals in Derby, Stockholm, Sydney as well as Austin and North Carolina in the US. Film Ireland called it an ‘intelligent film with a lot to offer’.
Elva, who has featured in recent RTÉ successes Rebellion and Striking Out stars as Joanne in Soulsmith, who is a childhood friend of Ed.
Following a two week run in Castlebar, Co. Mayo Soulsmith will play for a week in the Sligo Omniplex beginning on Friday September 29 th. Screenings will beat 7pm daily.
Elva (26) says her role in Striking Out is small but one that is building with each season and in many ways so is her career.
“Two films in my hometown at the same time is something to look forward to and I’ ll certainly try to get down for it,” says Elva, now based in Dublin.
And, it’s just not on the silver screen she’s making a name. She has also struck out in another direction, the music world. Elva is a vocalist with City and Us, an up and coming band which also features Mark Hogan, son of well known country singer John Hogan.
But, Elva says their style of music is “electro pop.” And, it’s been going down a treat with many marking the band down as one to watch.
Her love of music hasn’t clashed with her acting career just yet though so no tough choices to be made. “It has just worked out. I’m very lucky,” she says.
City and Us has headline a festival in Germany and has also appeared at Electric Picnic this year as well as playing support to Key West in Britain.
“My heart is in acting but I suppose it’s in music too. I’ve been acting since I was very small and I literally think about it every three seconds,” she says.
Like all actors, Elva cannot reveal too much about her future plans such is the often precarious nature of the business.
“There are some nice prospects. I cannot say until I actually sign the contract,” she says, citing that things in the pipeline can often not come to pass.
She did however reveal: “My next step is most likely London. Maybe I’ve already said too much with that,” she laughs.
The former Coláiste Mhuire student says she really enjoyed Soulsmith and that it had got great reviews. She describes Kevin Henry’s film as having “come from the heart.”
After leaving secondary school, Elva headed to Rome for a year where she studied Italian before returning to undertake screen acting at The Factory in Dublin.
She admits she doesn’t get home to Sligo too often but keeps abreast of developments here. One thing which has caught her eye has been David McGowan’s Quirky Glamping project in Enniscrone.
“Now, that is something I’d like to try,” she says.