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Low budget doesn't have to mean low grade, as a new generation of Irish film-makers are about to prove. Donald Clarke says goodbye to blotchy colour, tinny sound and nepotism

Let's be honest. There are few among us whose hearts don't sink a little at the prospect of viewing a film made on a tiny, tiny budget. We won't have to suffer Vin Diesel or, worse, Demi Moore, but we will surely be guaranteed blotchy colour, tinny sound and the director's girlfriend in a supporting role. A series of new Irish films suggests that may be about to change.