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Draft:Johnny O'Reilly

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Comment: In response to the previous review, I have strengthened the sourcing for the subject himself rather than adding further reviews or coverage focused primarily on his films.
    In particular, I have added Tara Brady's substantial 2011 Irish Times feature, "Our man in Moscow", which contains significant coverage of O'Reilly's background, career and work in Russia.
    I have also corrected and more fully incorporated a substantial two-page profile of O'Reilly by Doug Whelan, "Red Letter Day", published in The Sunday Times on 6 November 2016 (pp. 6–7). This is a print source and does not appear to have a currently available online version. The article contains extensive biographical coverage of O'Reilly, including his background, time in Russia, journalism and filmmaking career.
    These are in addition to the existing substantial 2023 Irish Times profile by Lara Marlowe, whose byline has also been corrected in the draft.
    I hope these additional and corrected independent secondary sources address the previous concern regarding significant coverage of the subject himself. Whitesam (talk) 16:41, 4 September 2026 (UTC)
  • Comment: We need to see at least one or two more sources like the Irish Times article that show depth of coverage of the subject. The other sources as far as I can see are either primary, WP:ROUTINE, or are focused on his movies not himself. Sulfurboy (talk) 17:44, 25 July 2026 (UTC)


Johnny O'Reilly
Born (1970-10-22) October 22, 1970 (age 55)
Dublin, Ireland
CitizenshipIreland
EducationTrinity College Dublin, New York University
OccupationsFilmmaker, screenwriter, producer, journalist
Known forThe Terms (2002), The Weather Station (2010), Moscow Never Sleeps (2016)

Johnny O'Reilly is an Irish filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and journalist.[1] His works include the feature films The Weather Station (2010) and Moscow Never Sleeps (2016), and the Academy Award-shortlisted short film The Terms (2002).[2] He is also known for his international reporting and commentary from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.[3][4][5]

Early life and education

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O'Reilly was raised in Dublin, Ireland.[4] He studied Russian and Classics at Trinity College Dublin before undertaking postgraduate studies in filmmaking at New York University.[1][4] During his studies in 1993, he spent nine months in Russia, reporting on the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis as a stringer for publications such as The Irish Times and the Moscow Tribune.[4] He permanently relocated to Moscow in 2006.[4]

Career

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Journalism and cultural initiatives

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O'Reilly has spent more than two decades reporting from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the wider former Soviet region, covering politics, culture, society and conflict across Eastern Europe.[3][4][6] In 2008, he established Irish Week in Moscow, a major annual cultural festival featuring film premieres, concerts, and public celebrations.[4]

His journalistic work has been published by several international media organisations, including The New York Times, Rolling Stone,[7] The Sunday Times, The Times, The Irish Times, MarketWatch, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and The Currency.[6]

His reporting has included coverage of the 2020 Belarus protests and the subsequent political crackdowns,[8][9][10] the rise of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,[11] and the mobilization of Ukrainian women in the military.[12]

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he documented civilian experiences during wartime, including the flight of refugees from Makariv,[13] the journey of a family escaping occupied Kherson,[14] a Ukrainian priest taking up arms,[15] and the slow return of life to Kharkiv's markets.[16] He also analyzed the propaganda war,[17] shifting national identities,[18] and the physical devastation of Ukrainian towns.[19]

Filmmaking and documentaries

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The Terms (2002)

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O'Reilly first gained international recognition with the short film The Terms (2002), which was shortlisted for the 74th Academy Awards and won multiple awards at international film festivals.[2]

The Weather Station (2010)

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O'Reilly made his feature directorial debut with The Weather Station (2010), a Russian-language drama set at a remote Arctic weather station and shot outside Simferopol, Crimea.[5] The film screened internationally and received positive reviews, with critics praising its visual style and atmosphere.[20][21]

Moscow Never Sleeps (2016)

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O'Reilly wrote and directed Moscow Never Sleeps (2016), a Russian-language ensemble drama set during Moscow City Day celebrations. The film follows several interconnected stories over the course of a single day and explores themes of family, ambition, corruption and contemporary Russian society.[4][22][23]

The film received positive reviews from The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Variety and The Irish Times. Critics highlighted its portrayal of contemporary Moscow and its examination of social and political tensions in modern Russia.[24][25] Additional positive coverage and reviews appeared in Third Coast Review, The Young Folks, and Culture Trip, while O'Reilly discussed the production in various cinema journals.[26][27][28][29][30][31]

Kherson (forthcoming)

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Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, O'Reilly focused primarily on documentary filmmaking. He began production on Kherson, a feature documentary chronicling the experiences of civilians, soldiers and families living through the Russian occupation of Kherson, the city's liberation, and the continuing effects of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[3]

Russian television incident

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In August 2015, O'Reilly appeared on live Russian state television to discuss the release of his film Moscow Never Sleeps. During the interview, he raised the imprisonment of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov. After O'Reilly said that Sentsov had been jailed for political reasons, the interview was abruptly cut short. A clip of the exchange subsequently went viral and was reported by The Irish Times and The Hollywood Reporter.[32][33]

Filmography

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Feature films

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  • The Weather Station (2010) – Writer, director
  • Moscow Never Sleeps (2016) – Writer, director
  • Kherson (forthcoming) – Writer, director, producer

Short films

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  • The Terms (2002) – Writer, director

References

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  1. 1 2 "Alumni Interview: Johnny O'Reilly". Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 "The Terms Shortlisted for Oscars". IFTN. 14 January 2003. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Marlowe, Lara (25 August 2023). "'I want to see out the war': Irish filmmaker moved to Ukraine from Russia when 'the pessimists were proved right'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Whelan, Doug (6 November 2016). "Red Letter Day". The Sunday Times. pp. 6–7.
  5. 1 2 Brady, Tara (25 February 2011). "Our man in Moscow". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Johnny O'Reilly". Muck Rack. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  7. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (10 April 2022). "For Kyiv's Resilient Revelers, the Party Goes On Amid the Threat of War". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  8. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (21 August 2020). "Belarus protests: Lukashenko threatens to jail opposition hotheads". The Times. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  9. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (18 August 2020). "Belarus protests: workers jeer dictator Lukashenko and tell him to stand down". The Times. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  10. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (28 August 2020). "Belarus protests: Russia ready to step in as protests grip Minsk". The Times. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  11. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (24 February 2022). "Volodymyr Zelensky: Ukraine's president has gone from television star to global stage in three short years". iNews. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  12. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (9 February 2022). "Russia-Ukraine war: Women volunteers enlist in Ukrainian army as Russia invasion threat escalates". iNews. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  13. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (15 April 2022). "The Flight From Makariv: How Civilians Escaped The Russian Onslaught". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  14. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (28 April 2022). "A Ukrainian family's desperate journey from Russian-occupied Kherson to safety". MarketWatch. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  15. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (9 March 2022). "'Even though I'm a priest, I have the full moral right to take up arms' — a Ukrainian man of the cloth fights to defend his country". MarketWatch. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  16. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (20 June 2022). "In Ukraine's Second City, A Celebrated Market Slowly Comes Back To Life". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  17. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (19 March 2022). "The propaganda war marches in time with the real one, as the new symbols of fascism appear". The Currency. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  18. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (12 March 2022). "'Before they started killing children, many of us were half-Russian, half-Ukrainian. But now I'm a full-blown Ukrainian patriot'". The Currency. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  19. ↑ O'Reilly, Johnny (16 April 2022). "On March 2nd, Russia bombed three apartment blocks in one Ukrainian town. 45 days later, nobody knows yet what they will find under the rubble". The Currency. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  20. ↑ Felperin, Leslie (22 November 2010). "The Weather Station". Variety. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  21. ↑ Sellers, John (28 March 2012). "DVD Review: The Weather Station". Starburst. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  22. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (8 June 2017). "Review: 'Moscow Never Sleeps' and Its Citizens Struggle". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  23. ↑ Pumphrey, Jonathan (24 November 2016). "Moscow Never Sleeps Interview with Johnny O'Reilly". Movies.ie. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  24. ↑ Rechtshaffen, Michael (15 June 2017). "Review: Interlocking lives tell a story of contemporary Russia in 'Moscow Never Sleeps'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  25. ↑ Clarke, Donald (24 November 2016). "Moscow Never Sleeps review: Portrait of city buzzes with sombre intelligence". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  26. ↑ Szewczyk, Steve (12 October 2017). "Film Review: Moscow Never Sleeps Imbues Modern Russia with a Touch of Humanity". Third Coast Review. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  27. ↑ Kaye, Don (15 June 2017). "Movie Review: Moscow Never Sleeps". The Young Folks. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  28. ↑ MacFarlane, Steve (13 June 2017). "Dancing, Singing, and Dying in 'Moscow Never Sleeps'". Culture Trip. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  29. ↑ Cardullo, R. (21 June 2017). "Russian Interview: Johnny O'Reilly". Film International. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  30. ↑ Forrest, S. (13 July 2017). "Interview: Johnny O'Reilly". Film Inquiry. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  31. ↑ "IFTN Profile: Moscow Never Sleeps". IFTN. 24 November 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  32. ↑ Kozlov, Vladimir (28 August 2015). "Russian TV Cuts Away After Irish Director Backs Jailed Ukrainian Filmmaker Oleg Sentsov". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  33. ↑ O'Leary, Naomi (28 August 2015). "Russian TV cuts off Irish director after backing jailed filmmaker". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
[edit]

Category:Irish film directors Category:Irish screenwriters Category:Irish journalists Category:Living people Category:Trinity College Dublin alumni Category:People from Dublin (city)

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