Director and writer, Philip James McGoldrick, tackles difficult subjects. Difficult subjects that have won more than 50 awards and awards nominations internationally. McGoldrick’s newest film, Tramp, his first feature film, deals with the psychological pressures of being a mum and the complications of pregnancy while also facing pressures of the highly competitive MMA combat sports environment. It’s a story about overcoming adversity, finding mental resilience and reclaiming what is lost. It is also a story about redemption, loosely based on several inspiring female fighters within the MMA world, and shedding light on the conditions fighters face early in their careers, and on life in the UK’s Polish community.

“We produced the film with our production company EMC productions, that I run with my partner, Marina Elderton, who also goes by the name ELDR in her independent music. Marina and I produced the film while she was pregnant with our second child,” McGoldrick commented, “and this created quite a lot of unusual obstacles along the way and I had to miss a day of shooting because she gave birth.”

McGoldrick’s began attracting attention very early in his career. His short film, Siemiany, about the struggles of an LGBTQ+ boy, won the Premiers Plans Grand Prix de Jury and the Paris Shorts’ Best Director award, and was also nominated for the Crystal Bear at the 2010 Berlinale. His short film, People Aren’t Important, prompted a talent scout from the National Film & Television school in the UK to encourage McGoldrick to apply for an additional Master in Directing Fiction.

McGoldrick then began working on the brave and ambitious feature-length documentary, Born of Violence. McGoldrick was born of sexual violence himself.

“It is essentially a detective story about tracking down my birth dad and coming to terms with its impact on my relationship with my biological mum, told through re-enactments, fictionalised elements as well as real-life documented encounters and private moments from my life. The doc fiction also incorporates newer digital technologies like rotoscope animation using CGI and AI. We are currently seeking additional producing partners and funding to finish the film,” he stated.

The movement piece for Born of Violence, that McGoldrick made as a short promo for the film, has recently won a Shiny Award.

“When I first started speaking about Born of Violence, I posted a blog comment on an American blog relating to trauma. As a result of this comment alone, my inbox was flooded with messages from people all over the world, asking for guidance relating to the trauma of children born of rape. This is mainly due to the fact that there is almost no information available online. This was an impetus to make the movement piece, to encapsulate the feeling that I think so many people felt, but never were able to find expression for,” he explained.

McGoldrick was born in Poland and raised by Polish adoptive parents in the UK until he was about 4 years old, when his adoptive parents split. McGoldrick’s adoptive mother moved to Belgium and McGoldrick gained a Belgian stepfather at 6 years of age. He was then raised in Leuven, a small Flemish town in Belgium and studied film in Brussels after leaving school. Siemiany and People Aren’t Important established him as an emerging talent. He was signed to Czar briefly, and also did television work for established Belgian stand-up comedians with PIAS comedy.

In 2023, Goldrick won Best Documentary at the Sydney Web Fest for the web series, ELDR TV, which is also about motherhood and his partner’s journey as a musician. He established EMC productions to produce it. The production company has already produced several music videos, and Tramp.

McGoldrick’s most recent music video is Deerskin, and features the same performer, Modest Mulenga, from the Born of Violence movement piece.

“Modest and I met randomly in the streets of West-Croydon while I was out walking one day and connected through a shared love for art house cinema. Our natural friendship made it easy to work together. The song, Deerskin, is about coercion, destructive love and intoxication with the darker sides of life. We wanted to work with Modest again and soon realised our piece became about racial abuse. We had to tread carefully while making the piece as it became sensitive in terms of its subject matter. However, everyone enjoyed the experience and making the piece made it cathartic for us and rid us of the taboos of being able to explore this difficult subject matter further.”

View McGoldrick’s work here. And EMC Productions’ work here.