How to Tell a Secret

Robbie Lawlor was diagnosed with HIV at 21 and became one of the youngest people to come out on Irish television. Enda McGrattan, also known as Veda, promised to keep their HIV status a secret for a decade but eventually broke free by releasing a song. And a group of Irish and migrant women, who cannot show their faces, found creative ways to have their voices heard...

In this compelling film, directors Anna Rodgers and Shaun Dunne use documentary, performance and genre-blurring storytelling techniques to communicate a powerful message. The stories in this film move between bodies of young men,migrant women, drag artists and activists.

Featuring a cast of actors as well as ordinary people coming out on screen for the first time, the film also includes a dramatic tribute to Thom McGinty, aka The Diceman with a reenactment of his historic appearance on the Late Late Show in the 1990s.

Based on a theatre show, director Anna Rodgers saw a performance of ‘Rapids’ by Shaun Dunne, and approached him to work together on an artistic collaboration for the screen. Together they expanded on the world of the original play by working with new contributors and a stellar cast of Irish actors including Lauren Larkin, Jade Jordan, and Eva Jane Gaffney who take on the hidden stories of women who are living with HIV.