WATCH | Short film 'Welcome to Longford' gaining international attention

A short film on the influence of Longford on the music of two emerging rap artists is gaining international attention.

Two official film festival selections, Sydney and Melbourne, saw “Welcome to Longford” listed as a documentary on IMDb. That's kind of a big deal.

The short film is a slice of the life of two young black musicians from a Longford council estate as they reflect on struggles with a troubled past in an emerging local rap scene.

The Leader has previously extolled the talents of Kofi Appiah and Nevlonne Dampare (AKA K Muni and ND). The rappers produce some sublime cuts, thumping tunes with a slick flow that exemplifies their drill style.

In this biopic Lee Williamson has given them the opportunity for sincere reflection on their hometown and what it means for their music.

“Before the summer we decided we wanted to carry out a project,” Kofi said of the short film, “Lee approached us and said “I believe you guys have a story, I want to hemp tell it”, so it's literally about how we started in music. A reflection on some troubles we had early on, and a look at where we want to go.”

The film maker, Lee, is originally from Scotland, but he moved to Lanesboro 15 years ago. His company Shuttermaniac Productions is behind Welcome to Longford.

Kofi says there has been a very positive reaction to the short so far: “Originally it was supposed to drop a few months back, but there was a bit of a delay. Since it has come out people have been giving us very good feedback. We posted bits on TikTok and people loved it.”

Selection for their second film festival is no small achievement given the clamour by filmmakers to be included in such programmes. Kofi says his ambition for the piece is simple: “I would be happy if younger kids could watch this and be inspired. If at least two people are inspired by this then we have done our job.”

The duo's musical journey continues: “Things are going very well. The documentary was part of our EP roll out. That EP came out two months ago. We have only performed a few times in the last couple of months. The last one was the Blazers reopening. We went to visit St Joseph's to talk about music. ND and myself went there and it was nice to go back.”

Welcome to Longford is available to watch on the Academy MusicTM and Shuttermaniac YouTube channels.