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 FESTIVAL
TriBeCa Film Festival, New York, June 2026 (Special Mention for Cinematography)
DC/DOX - Documentary Film Festival, Washington, June 2026
Galway Film Fleadh, Ireland, July 2026 (Awarded Best Cinematography in an Irish Film)
Melbourne International Film Festival, August 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
With thanks to Culture Ireland for their support attending Tribeca Festival
CREDITS
DIRECTOR Gar O’Rourke
PRODUCERS Andrew Freedman, Ken Wardrop, Jessie Hayden
PRODUCTION COMPANY Venom Films
CO-PRODUCERS Philipp Ritler, Luzius Fischer
CO-PRODUCTION COMPANY Dynamic Frame
CINEMATOGRAPHER Lukas Gut
EDITOR John Murphy
SUPPORTED BY
Screen Ireland
BBC Storyville
ARTE France
Eurimages - Council of Europe