Piano Dreams
by Gary Lennon • 90’ • Ireland
Credits
Director:
Gary Lennon
Producer:
Raymond McCormack
There are currently 40 million piano students in China. With many practising up to ten hours a day, pianomania has truly gripped the nation. The film follows three young hopefuls and their dedicated families as they chase their dreams in the ultra-competitive world of piano education.
Festivals
Galway Film Fleadh 2022
Valladolid IFF – Semici 2022
Hawaii International Film Festival 2022
Filmmaker’s Biography
Gary has been a director and producer for over 15 years. His first feature A DOCTOR’S SWORD (2014), played in festivals around the world and has subsequently been sold to over a dozen countries. It had an 8-week theatrical run in Ireland and received a 8.3 rating on IMDB. It is currently playing on Amazon Prime, where it continues to receive strong reviews. In 2020, Gary directed his second feature, CASTRO’S SPIES, which has won a number of awards and received his second IFTA nomination. It is having a theatrical release in the US in May 2022, with a release in Ireland and the UK later in the summer. PIANO DREAMS, set in Shanghai, is Gary’s third feature. Between 2001-05 Gary lived in Shanghai, next door to the Piano Conservatory, where much of the film takes place. Currently in production is Gary’s fourth feature, I DREAM OF PHOTOS, on Ireland’s only Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, Cathal McNaughton. In addition to these features, Gary has produced or directed numerous productions for TV in Ireland and Europe. Gary has an M.A. from Durham University, UK, in Modern East Asian Studies and a B.A in History and Politics from University College Dublin. In 2013, Gary attended the Zelig School of Film, Bolzano, EsoDoc programme.