After the screening of Garagefor a transition year audience, director Lenny Abrahamsontook questions from his young critics. They were brutally honest.

I didn't get it. What was the point of the film?

If you didn't get a point, then there was no point. For us, the film was about characters on the edge. Josie is marginal - you'd hardly notice him if you passed through the garage where he works. The point of the film was to make important lives which look unimportant to the passer-by, to turn background characters into full, rounded people.

Did he die at the end?

Yes. The film is loosely based on real events. However, we chose not to show that, although it felt strange to leave him the way we did.

Why did you choose Pat Shortt, a comedian, to play such a serious role?

It's nice to mess with people's expectations.

What was the point of the horse?

Partly, he was there for mood and he could be interpreted in many ways. For me, the relationship between Josie and the horse was the only simple, positive relationship in the film. It was pure and unconditional. I'm also interested in the way humans treat animals - how we can distance ourselves from suffering.

Why did you want to tell this story?

I see people like Josie everywhere. This film was an elegy. I wanted to give audiences a sense of a life.

Are you really as pessimistic as your films?

Comedies and romantic films sell better, but are you suggesting that people who live lonely lives should not be portrayed in film? That we shouldn't talk about them?

After what happened to Josie, aren't you afraid of putting out the message that young people should not tell when they are uncomfortable with an adult?

No. I don't feel responsible for making films about how people should react. I make films about how people do react.

Did you mean to show the teenagers in the film as outsiders?

Everybody remembers what it was like to be a teenager, the desire to identify yourself as different from the adults.

How do you get to be a film director?

Just do it.

Will the horse star in your next film?

We're looking at scripts.

As part of its education programme, the Irish Film Institute will be screening films over the coming months. There is a range of other screenings and education modules available for primary, junior and senior students and teachers at IFI. Schools interested in attending screenings should contact Deirdre or Alicia. Tel: 01-6795744 or e-mail: schools@irishfilm.ie.

Study guides can also be downloaded for free from the  IFI website www.irishfilm.ie