Tuesday was a very exciting evening as Sligo hosted the premiere of the movie Halal Daddy. I was lucky enough to go and see it – which was extra exciting as I was in it! Well when I say I was in it I didn’t actually see myself but I was an extra in the ‘cow chase’ scene.

Halal Daddy was filmed in Sligo town and country last year and tells the story of Raghdan Aziz who is a young Muslim. He is enjoying life in the North West of Ireland until his father arrives from England and gives him an old meat factory for his 21st birthday.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but I have to say I loved it. Yes there were some cheesy bits and a lot of swearing but there were parts where I laughed out loud. It’s a story of love, families, different cultures and most importantly hope. It’s a feel good movie and if you liked Sing Street you’ll love it.

Conor McDermottroe was at the premiere and told us how the nugget of an idea was born when he was in a pub in Mayo over 20 years ago and there were celebrations over an announcement of a meat factory opening and the jobs it would bring. Sligo native Conor is passionate about bringing his home town and county to the world and the scenery footage in the film is outstanding. There’s an amazing surf scene which you would never believe was filmed in Ireland let alone Sligo but it was.

It was an absolute pleasure to be at the Irish premiere of Halal Daddy and to meet so many of the cast and crew. I remember during that long day of filming how friendly Art Malik was to us extras, he’s such a nice man. On Tuesday we got to meet some of the other actors and they were all lovely. We also got to meet Kian Egan and Jodi 🙂

As far as Sligo goes it was funny to see Homeland, Gary’s Cycles, Sligo Airport and The Nest on the big screen and you’d think White Hag was the only beer served here. I loved seeing so many Sligo extras involved and a big well done to Ciaran McCauley who is brilliant in the film along with the other factory workers.

Well done to all involved and I hope the movie does really well. I, for one, came out smiling. Hala Daddy opens nationwide on Friday June 30th. Thank you Look West for inviting us along. You can see some other reviews by watching the video below.