Well worth a watch if you’re about this weekend.
A few weeks ago, JOE’s Rory Cashin provided an excellent look at some of the films that fans should try and track down at the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival but given the surge in popularity of the documentary genre, we think a detailed look at some documentaries – both short and feature-length – are worth a look.
In recent years, Irish documentaries like I, Dolours, A Mother Brings Her Son to be Shot, No Stone Unturned, Making the Grade, the Oscar-nominated Detainment, and countless others have all received acclaim and this year has a healthy mix of local and foreign features.
On this note, we’ve selected seven features that are well worth your time.
Note: Tickets for some of these documentaries may be close to selling out, so it’s worth checking ahead for availability.
The Vasectomy Doctor
Plot: Andrew Rynne was the first doctor to perform a vasectomy in Ireland, he estimates that he’s performed over 35,000 of them now. This is a distinction that did not come without controversy in the extremely Catholic Ireland of the seventies and eighties, but Rynne persevered in the face of opposition from the church.
In the eighties, he challenged the restrictive laws on contraceptives by selling condoms without a prescription. He got his day in court and forced the government to change policy. In 1990, Rynne was about to perform a vasectomy on a patient, when a gunman came in and shot him. After surviving this attempt on his life, Rynne would later meet with his assailant and forgive him.
When and where is it on?: It’s part of the Virgin Media DIFF Shorts 1 screening that takes place on Saturday, 23 February at 18:00 in the Light House Cinema.
The Vasectomy Doctor Trailer from Paul Webster on Vimeo.
Gaza
Plot: Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell’s documentary is a portrait of the resilience of people in the most challenging of circumstances. Set among the communities who live in Gaza, the documentary aims to go beyond the reach of television news and politics in its account of these people and their daily lives. It’s the story of eloquent, funny and above all ordinary people as they endeavour to live meaningful lives in the shadows of perpetual conflict.
When and where is it on?: Saturday, 2 March at 14:00 in Cineworld.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXqWSyLkmyk
Clip via Continuum Films
Floating Structures
Plot: Feargal Ward and Adrian Duncan’s film follows a researcher travelling across Europe, exploring an array of buildings and structures that seem other-worldly. Drawing on the ideas and visions of the great Irish engineer Peter Rice, they explore the hinterlands that gave rise to these structures. Wandering from a quiet Bavarian town, to the streets of Paris, to the city of Seville, our past is sifted through and interlinked with precision and wonder.
When and where is it on?: Monday, 25 February at 18:30 in the Irish Film Institute.
What Time is Death
Plot: In 2017 Bill Drummond & Jimmy Cauty, formerly The KLF, returned after 23 years of silence – but they were no longer a pop group. They were now undertakers, planning to build a monument, the People’s Pyramid, out of 34,952 bricks made from the remains of dead people. Their previous most famous action was in 1994, when they burned one million pounds of their earnings in a disused boathouse on a Scottish island after being one of the UK’s most successful early 90s pop acts.
When and where is it on?: Tuesday, 26 February at 18:30 in the Irish Film Institute.
Shooting the Mafia
Plot: Kim Longinotto’s powerful documentary strips back the glamorous image of the Sicilian Mafia, showing the harsh reality of life, death and business at the hands of those who wield it. It does so through the eyes and lens of photographer Letizia Battaglia, who captured their brutality on her own terms. Fear and threats did not prevent her from documenting what has been described as her “archive of blood” in all of its raw power.
When and where is it on?: Saturday, 2 March at 20:20pm in Cineworld.
Here’s a brief taste of what’s in store.
SHOOTING THE MAFIA by Kim Longinotto (Ireland) from european film promotion on Vimeo.
When Hitchcock Met O’Casey
Plot: It was a collaboration between one of Ireland’s most noted playwrights and cinema’s greatest directors, yet the 1930 release of Juno and the Paycock is often neglected in the repertoire of both men. Brian O’Flaherty’s documentary aims to find out why. Featuring extensive, incisive interviews with family members, academics, directors and actors, including Shivaun O’Casey, Prof Charles Barr, and Peter Sheridan, it tells the story of how these two iconic figures met and the legacy of the film.
When and where is it on?: Thursday, 21st February at 18:15 in the Light House Cinema.
There’s No Place Like Home
Plot: In this short documentary, young film students from Dublin are on a quest to find out why there’s a homeless crisis in their country, and what can be done. The film includes moving testimonies from people who are homeless and captures a sense of the anger of a nation. It asks the question: how can four thousand children be in emergency accommodation when Ireland is the 14th richest country in the world?
When and where is it on?: There are two screenings of this ‘Dublin on Screen’ feature. The first is on Friday, 22 February at 18:30pm, Light House Cinema . The second screening is on Friday, 1st March at 11:00 in the Light House Cinema.
Bending Glass
Plot: Glass bender Paddy Dignam, a man who used the streets as his gallery, illuminates Ireland in neon, one piece at a time.
When and where is it on?: It’s part of the Virgin Media DIFF Shorts 1 screening that takes place on 23 February at 18:00pm in the Light House Cinema.
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