Give Up Yer Aul Sins

A still from animated short film Give Up Yer Aul Sins featuring a school girl at her desk
Give Up Yer Aul Sins...

Give Up Yer Aul Sins is an Academy Award® nominated short film, which humorously reenacts original recordings of Dublin schoolrooms in the 1960s made by Peig Cunningham and subsequently rediscovered and released by EMI. 

In the film, a documentary crew arrives to film the activities of the classroom. The teacher chooses Mary to retell, in her own imaginative way, the bible story of John the Baptist.

Give Up Yer Aul Sins has screened in almost 50 film festivals, including the Galway Film Fleadh—where it won Best Animation, Cork Film Festival—Best Irish and Best International Animation, Cartoons on Bay—Special Award for Original Idea, New York Comedy Festival, Boston Irish Film Festival, Aspen Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival. Give Up Yer Aul Sins received an Oscar® nomination for Best Animated Short at the 2001 Academy Awards.

A classroom scene with a young student sitting at a desk looking up at a microphone hanging from the ceiling. Other students are visible in the background.
An animated character with long hair smiling broadly and gesturing with one hand. The background is blurred.
Two animated characters, one with long hair and the other in dark clothing, standing outdoors with a tower in the background.
An animated character jumping towards an open window where another character is visible inside the building, which is a prison. The scene appears to be set outdoors at dusk.
An animated character wearing a crown and robe, holding up both hands while speaking or singing passionately.
Behind-the-scenes
A History of Give Up Yer Aul Sins, a documentary on the making-of our classic Oscar nominated short!

Containing interviews with Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O'Connell, Willie Kavanagh (EMI Records), Rod Stoneman (Irish Film Board), Roddy Doyle (Author) and more, the documentary details the transformation of the original recordings made by Peig Cunningham in the 1960s into animation 40 years later, the experience of the 74th Academy Awards, and the crew behind the short.

"Our first big break was the short film Give Up Yer Aul Sins in 2001. We had a business turning over less than a million euros at the time, and every month’s invoices coming in on time made a big difference to us. That DVD went on to sell 710,000 units."—Cathal Gaffney

Credits

Director: Cathal Gaffney
Producer: Darragh O’Connell

Year of Production: 2000