Ken Wardrop for Pálás visit to discuss Making the Grade

Film director Ken Wardrop will be in Galway on Tuesday next, April 10, for a screening of his latest work, Making the Grade. The event will take place in the city’s Pálás Cinema and will be followed by a Q&A with the director.

The film will go on general release next Friday, April 13.

Every year teachers and students throughout Ireland prepare for graded musical exams and with Making the Grade, Wardrop invites the viewer into the world of the piano lesson. His previous films include Undressing my Mother (2004) His and Hers (2009) and Mom and Me (2015), which have garnered awards and acclaim at home and abroad for their touching, often humorous insight into human nature. And this one promises to be no different.

Music exams can be pleasing for some but daunting for others. Each student has their own goal but reaching Grade Eight is considered a pinnacle. This uplifting documentary explores the bond between piano teachers and their pupils as they struggle through these grades. It captures the transformative power of music and the pride and happiness it provides both the students and teachers.

The filmmakers travelled the length and breadth of the country to film with teachers and their students as they prepared for their piano grade exams.

It features characters from Galway’s Kylemore Abbey as well as from Derry City and from Crosshaven in County Cork.  Directed by Ken Wardrop, Making the Grade is produced by Andrew Freedman and is being distributed by Element Pictures.