Barry Vs the Binman

A down on his luck thirty-something becomes fixated on a feud with his bin collectors when they begin leaving his wheelie-bin in other people's driveways, all the while contending with his nightmare neighbours.

Barry is awoken by the irritating sound of his neighbour, Shane, clearing the garden next door with a leaf blower. Barry sleeps alone on one side of the bed, his house is decorated with pictures of himself and his girlfriend, who has left him for an unknown reason.
Preparing breakfast, Barry is disturbed once more by a knock at the door from Shane, who has brought his wheelie bin back to its rightful place after the Bin Man left it in his driveway. For a long time, both Barry and Shane have held dislike for each other which neither make any strong attempt to hide.
Over the course of the following weeks, the Bin Man continues to carelessly leave Barry's wheelie bin elsewhere. Barry's ire grows and he resolves to catch the Bin Man in the act. He sets his alarm early in order to be ready and waiting, only to be distracted by a photo of himself and his girlfriend on the wall of his living room. He chases the Bin Lorry through his estate, failing to catch them and drawing the attention of other annoyed neighbours, more mockery from Shane.
Some time later, Barry dreams of waiting in his driveway as the bin lorry pulls up. He confronts the Bin Man, who disregards his approach and attempts to laugh him off. Barry jolts awake just as he begins to attack the man in his dream.
On the next collection day, Barry sits in his living room, waiting once again for his chance to take a stand. The bin lorry arrives, and Barry steps outside just as it pulls away. His wheelie bin sits in its correct place, perched neatly in the middle of his driveway. Barry, having built up a confrontation with his enemies in his head, now has nowhere to place his anger anymore. He decides to move on with his life, accept that his girlfriend has left him and ultimately grow as a human being.

  • Craig Moore
    Director
    Three Brothers Two
  • Craig Moore
    Writer
    Three Brothers Two
  • Emer Durcan
    Producer
    Picture Day, Call Me Nancy, Bruise, Be Positive, Ms. In-Between
  • Brian Durcan
    Producer
    Picture Day, Call Me Nancy, Bruise, Be Positive, Ms. In-Between, Unfaithful,
  • Graham Earley
    Key Cast
    "Barry "
    Mask, Black Guelph, Three Brothers Two, Be Good or Be Gone, Broken Law, Flow, Cardboard Gangsters, Solid, Red rock, Monged, Fat Freddy's Drop, Any Last Words, Grassland, The Light of Day, Comfortable Chaos, One Thousand Yards, Harry, Hamlet and I, The Shadow boxer
  • John Conors
    Key Cast
    Love Hate, Agape, The North Side Story, Mary Martin and Ben, The Black Guelph, Sneachta, Maced, Sapien, The letters, Black Medicine, A bend in the river, Broken Law, Five letters to the student who will disect my brian, The young offenders, Cardboard Gangsters, Monged
  • Brian Matthews Murphy
    Key Cast
    "Binman "
    Grainne Uaile the movie, Mad cows from the planet Moo, The smoker who wore a red dress, Wicklow stories - Mountains, Wonderland, Second chance, Wicklow Monsters, Bring out the fear, The legend of the winged guardian, Journey of the Vikings, Honour her, The last right, spa weekend, The forgotten, Dearg doom
  • Western Front Studios
    Production Compnay
    They Can't Know About Me, Picture Day, Bruise, Be Positive, Ms. In-Between
  • Brian Durcan
    Cinematographer
    Picture Day, Call me Nancy, Bruise, Be Positive, Ms. Inbetween, Wild Fire Nights, Unfaithful
  • Rossa O'Dowd
    Editor
  • Craig Moore
    Editor
  • Colin McKenna
    Sound Designer
  • Padraig Ryan
    Composer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    DRAMA, COMEDY, DRAMEDY
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 41 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 21, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Ireland
  • Country of Filming:
    Ireland
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Full Frame
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Craig Moore

Craig Moore is an Irish producer, writer and director, based in Co. Westmeath. He is known for his work on 'Monged', 'An Irish Father', 'Jacob Wrestling With The Angel', and 'Three Brothers Two'.

Born in Dublin but having moved to the Lake County aged 8 in 2000, Moore studied Film in Dublin before completing an MSc in Digital Media in Filmbase, which was awarded by the University of West Scotland. His first feature film (on which he served as Producer), was the comedy-drama Monged in 2015. It starred Graham Earley, John Connors, Rex Ryan, Joe Rooney and Clare Dunne and premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh in the same year.

Moore's directorial debut, 'Three Brothers Two', was a self-funded short film shot just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. It received numerous awards and nominations during its festival run, with Moore being nominated for "Best Director" and "Best Screenwriter" multiple times. The film won "Best Irish Short Film" at the Underground Cinema Awards in 2021. UK Film Review labelled the film as "captivating".

His most recent film, 'Barry Versus The Binman', was the winner of the inaugural Westmeath Film Award; the award is aimed at promoting emerging talent in film production within the county.

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Director Statement

We've all done it, right? We've all being irrationally sparked off by something that really isn't work getting annoyed about? We've all said something or done something in that moment, only to look back and think "what was the big deal, really?"

Based on events that are very likely to be true, Barry Versus The Binman is a simple comedic tale about someone going through a hard time (possibly caused by their own stupidity) who then focuses all their ire on a small thing and making it a big thing. Barry's actions are certainly illogical and almost reprehensible. He's a foolish man. We laugh at him, we feel sorry for him and we also dislike him in a way. But we've all felt that way at some point.

A guy told me one time about a neighbour he had. The neighbour woke up every morning at 8am and walked around his concrete driveway with a leafblower. He didn't own any trees. Not even a daffodil in a pot. Combining all of these elements into a 11 minute short gives you a feeling of Barry's estate being a melting pot of irritation for him, amplified by him recently being dumped by his girlfriend for another man. Maybe she was right, but I think it's important to have a laugh while we ask ourselves these questions.

It is a great honour to be the inaugural recipient of the Westmeath Film Award and the pressure was on to make sure that the very first film made from the scheme was of the highest quality. I would like to thank my incredible cast and crew for the work they've done on the film, and I hope it has a long and fruitful festival run during which people might find something to relate to; while giggling at the absurdity of it all at the same time.