Padraic O'Connor talks to Ken Wardrop about his work to date, in particular his debut feature His & Hers, which will be premiered at this year's Galway Film Fleadh Since his graduation from the Irish National Film School in 2004, Ken Wardrop has become known as one of Ireland's freshest creative talents.

Well known for his humane, touching and award-winning shorts, such as Undressing My Mother (which received over 20 international awards including the Prix UIP at the 2006 European Film Academy Awards), he has just finished his debut feature His & Hers, which Galway filmgoers will get a chance to see when it is premiered at this year's Film Fleadh.

The amiable Wardrop was, in his own words, "a latecomer to the whole creative buzz". Based in London where he "worked random jobs" he decided to come home and pursue a different more creative career path. Through a friend of a friend, he became involved in film and has never looked back.

You're part of a regeneration of Irish film at the moment?

Yeah, there's a golden age for film and for directors with people like Lenny Abramson and Lance Daly doing such good work. And the success of 'Once' has helped low budget filmmakers; before that everyone thought films had to be big budget to get success and distribution.

Big budget is almost the antithesis of your shorts and now His & Hers, where you show the beauty in very ordinary things.

A phrase I would have used early in the work for this film was ‘an investigation into the ordinary to discover the extraordinary'. I suppose you could say that it's my investigation into sharing life. It's a creative documentary that chronicles a life through the collective voice of 70 ladies, using my mother's life as a template.

70 ladies of all ages?

Yes, young and old, and His & Hers is very much their story! It starts with a small child talking about her father, then a teenager whose boyfriend is introduced and becomes her fiancé. They get married and have a son, the women talk about their sons. The husband passes away; they're left alone for a while and the son come back into the picture.

How was working with 70 'leading ladies'?

It was so life affirming, hearing their stories and realising we all share the same dramas, traumas and excitements. It was such a reality check, I work in this amazing industry, but no matter who you are, it still all comes down to family and friends.

The simple things in life!

Exactly. As one of the characters whose husband has passed away says in His & Hers, it's the simple things she misses. Like the fact that her husband used to turn the light switch off every night. Now she has to.

Was the jump from directing shorts to a full-length feature a daunting one?

It's such a different beast, like running a marathon where you're never quite ready for the 'walls' you meet. Some of my shorts were shot over a weekend and edited over a few nights, whereas his & Hers has been a year in the making. There's more stress, people have invested money and there's much more involved.