Celebrating top-class Irish documentaries
Three documentaries offering a social commentary on Irish life through the decades, will be screened at An Taibhdhearc this Saturday, December 3, in the concluding event of Galway City of Film’s programme, 100 Years of Irish Cinema.
The films, which have been selected by Galway-based Australian filmmaker Paula Kehoe, are Living in a Coded Land by Pat Collins, The Road to God Knows Where by Alan Gilsenan and Broken Song by Claire Dix.
These three directors will attend and will discuss their work in a post-screening talk.
The screenings starts at 12pm with Living in a Coded Land (80 minutes), a poetic exploration of Ireland. This film revolves around the notion of place and the stories associated with place, reflecting the traces of the past that exist in the present and examining themes such as colonialism, emigration, famine, land, housing and the place of art in society. Using extensive archive material, it explores the many layers of meaning that make up Ireland.
The Road to God Knows Where (52 mins) will be screened at 2.15pm. This 1988 documentary is an edgy snapshot of Ireland, which caused controversy when it was first released. It captures a transformational decade before the ‘Celtic Tiger’, at a time of mass unemployment and emigration. Using stark visual imagery and music from U2, Aslan and the Pogues, Gilsenan reflects the idea that Ireland was on a journey, literally and metaphorically, to unknown destinations.
Broken Song (66 mins) will screen at 3.20pm. This contemporary, observational documentary is about a group of young male rappers. Their aim is to articulate the chaos that surrounds them, and to fight it with their words and voices. Along the way, rap has become their identity and religion – they claim to be its high priests.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.