THE SIEGE OF PARADISE
FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
DIRECTED BY GAR O’ROURKE
In Cinque Terre on Italy’s northern Riviera, fewer than three thousand locals contend with over four million tourists each summer. Across one chaotic season, six very different lives play out in parallel, revealing a sharply funny and surprisingly tender story of paradise under pressure in the age of social-media driven tourism.
SELECTED FESTIVALS
Tribeca 2026 (Special Mention for Cinematography)
DC/DOX 2026
Galway Film Fleadh 2026 (Awarded Best Cinematography in an Irish Film)
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026
Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival 2026
Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival 2026
San Francisco Irish Film Festival 2026
Crested Butte Film Festival 2026
IFI Documentary Festival 2026
Zurich Film Festival 2026
Film Fest Hamburg 2026
Reykjavik Film Festival 2026
Newport Beach Film Festival 2026
Kerry International Film Festival 2026 (Awarded Best Documentary Feature)
Adelaide Film Festival 2026
IDFA Festival 2026
SELECTED PRESS
Two Screen Ireland-supported documentaries selected for the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival, Screen Ireland
CPH:DOX Rough Cut: The Siege of Paradise by Gar O’Rourke, Business Doc Europe
Gar O’Rourke’s ‘Siege of Paradise’ receives cinematography honour at Tribeca Festival 2026, IFTN
CREDITS
DIRECTOR Gar O’Rourke
PRODUCERS Andrew Freedman, Jessie Hayden, Ken Wardrop
PRODUCTION COMPANY Venom Films
CO-PRODUCERS Philipp Ritler, Luzius Fischer
CO-PRODUCTION COMPANY Dynamic Frame
CINEMATOGRAPHER Lukas Gut
EDITOR John Murphy
PRODUCTION MANAGER Simone Cargnoni
LINE PRODUCER (ITALY) Alessio Cassaro
LINE PRODUCER (IRELAND) Steven Battle
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Jump Cut
MUSIC SUPERVISOR Jen Moss
EXECUTIVE MUSIC SUPERVISOR Sian Rogers
EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION FOR FÍS ÉIREANN / SCREEN IRELAND Greg Martin
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS FOR METFILM SALES Jenny Bohnhoff, Zak Brilliant
LOCATION SOUND Alberto Parodi, Danilo Guidarelli
ASSISTANT CAMERA & KEY GRIP Sven Brauchli
POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR & COLORIST Daniel Loepfe
POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Daniel Blumensev
VFX ARTIST Daniel Loepfe, Luca Vaccani
TITLE GRAPHICS Anja Klose
SOUND DESIGNER & RE-RECORDING MIXER Steve Maher
COMPOSER Denis Kilty
SUPPORTED BY
Screen Ireland
BBC Storyville
ARTE France
Eurimages - Council of Europe