RIP Glen Hansard (1970–2026). Thank you for your music, and rest in peace.
As a tribute, we will screen ONCE, for which Glen won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for „Falling Slowly.“
John Carney (Sing Street, Begin Again), a virtuoso of the intimate indie musical drama, put himself and The Swell Season on the map with Once, a bittersweet Dublin-set story about an aspiring musician (Glen Hansard, frontman of The Frames) who meets a Czech immigrant (Markéta Irglová) with her own gift for singing and songwriting. A beautiful friendship and musical partnership ensues with the tease of something more romantic; the moment the pair first duet together onscreen is pure, goosebump-inducing magic.
Once debuted at Sundance to rave reviews and took home the Audience Award for World Cinema. It continued to charm global audiences, culminating in an Oscar for Best Song, catapulting Hansard and Irglová to stardom, and laying the groundwork for the eight-time Tony Award–winning Broadway hit. Astonishingly made for only 150K, Carney elevates low-fi aesthetics with a script that is both economical and emotionally precise. At its core, Once is an exploration of the aching distance between young dreams and tempered realities, embodied by resonant characters who pulse with vulnerability and a determination born from an urgent need for new beginnings.
