---
name: "Nora Twomey"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/nora-twomey"
roles: ["Actor","Director"]
born: "31 October 1971"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 81
updated: "2026-09-17T07:10:36.959538+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Nora Twomey

Actor and director. Born 31 October 1971 in Cork City, Ireland.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor, Director
- **Born:** 31 October 1971, Cork City, Ireland
- **Active:** 2009–2017
- **Also known as:** 노라 투메이
- **Works often with:** [Tomm Moore](https://film.one/person/tomm-moore.md)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 76 (1), 2010s 83 (2)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15438228, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1316072/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/96677

## Fi1m on Nora Twomey

> Nora Twomey takes children’s responsibilities seriously, and her clear, expressive animation lets us understand why they matter. We recommend her most strongly for *The Breadwinner*, despite fantasy passages that interrupt an already compelling struggle to feed a family.

Parvana needs to feed her family, and in *The Breadwinner* (2017) that need determines where the story goes. Nora Twomey makes dressing as a boy a practical necessity, keeping the restrictions on Parvana’s life understandable through the business of a child’s day. We were frightened for her because the household’s next meal cannot wait for those restrictions to change. Saara Chaudry gives her a stubborn, believable voice. Twomey lets us recognise how much Parvana can do without suggesting that she should have to do it.

With *The Secret of Kells* (2009), co-directed with Tomm Moore, the attraction is more immediately in the drawings. The making of the Book of Kells is rendered in the book’s own style, which gives the film a clear visual purpose. The slight story and rushed ending keep our enthusiasm in check. Twomey subsequently worked as head of story and voice director on *Song of the Sea* (2014), before *The Breadwinner* became her first solo feature as director.

Her preference for hand-drawn 2D animation and simple, expressive characters helps keep a story clear. In *The Breadwinner*, she also trusts young audiences with difficult material, without explaining it as though they cannot follow. The awkward shifts into fantasy are the weakness: they interrupt a daily struggle that is already compelling. We want to stay with Parvana’s practical problems, which says something about how well Twomey has established them.

*My Father’s Dragon* (2022) continues her work in literary adaptation and character-focused animation. Across her work, children negotiating family and community remain a recurring concern, with imaginative elements never far away. We would welcome more of the confidence she shows when Parvana has an immediate problem to solve and the film stays with it. Begin with *The Breadwinner*, but do not mistake animation for a promise of a comfortable evening.

## Biography

Nora Twomey is an Irish animator, director and producer. She co-founded the animation studio Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny City, Ireland, in 1999. She studied at Ballyfermot College and began her career directing short films including *From Darkness* (2002) and *Cúilín Dualach* (2004).

Twomey co-directed *The Secret of Kells* (2009) with Tomm Moore and provided additional voices for the film. She was head of story and voice director on *Song of the Sea* (2014). She directed *The Breadwinner* (2017) and *My Father's Dragon* (2022). Her work on *The Secret of Kells* and *The Breadwinner* received Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, watch.plex.tv.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *The Breadwinner* (2017), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-breadwinner-2017.md)
- *Song of the Sea* (2014), Fi1m 82, Other — [page](https://film.one/film/song-of-the-sea.md)
- *The Secret of Kells* (2009), Fi1m 76, as Additional Voices and Walla (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-secret-of-kells.md)

## Also known for

- *My Father's Dragon* (2022), Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/nora-twomey