The Outcasts (Flipside 049) (Blu-ray)

Scripted and directed by the writer of The Blood on Satan’s Claw, this eerie folklorish tale is set in 19th‑century Ireland amid an isolated rural community where poverty and superstition are rife. Maura (Mary Ryan), an introverted farm girl suspected of witchcraft, discovers a mystical world of the imagination through ‘a wild, ungodly man’ – the mysterious wanderer Scarf Michael (Mick Lally).

Billed on release as the first Irish feature film in half a century, but hardly seen in the past 40 years, this uniquely dreamlike directorial feature debut is presented in an acclaimed new 2K restoration by the Irish Film Institute and marks the first time it has been available on Blu‑ray.

BFI Flipside is dedicated to rediscovering the margins of British film, reclaiming a space for forgotten movies and filmmakers who would otherwise be in danger of disappearing from our screens forever. It is a home for UK cinematic oddities, offering everything from exploitation documentaries to B-movies, countercultural curios and obscure classics, If it's weird, British and forgotten, then it's Flipside.

• New 2K restoration by the Irish Film Institute
• Newly commissioned audio commentary by Dr Diane A Rodgers
• Writing Folk Tales (2024, 9 mins): a newly recorded interview with director Robert Wynne-Simmons
• The Fugitive (1962, 31 mins): Robert Wynne-Simmons’ first film with an outsider at its heart is this dark tale of violence, guilt and retribution shot on 8mm film amidst Mods and Rockers violence on the backstreets of ‘60s Brighton
• The Outcasts in Pictures (2024, 15 mins): a gallery of stills from the film with audio commentary by director Robert Wynne-Simmons
• The Wanderings of Ulick Joyce (1968, 5 mins): this distinctive animated short by Gillian Lacey was inspired by Irish folk tales, and was made with the assistance of the BFI Production Board