Praise was in plentiful supply, but the content of the documentary made a lot of people angry.
The multi-award winning documentary, Atlantic, aired on RTÉ One on Thursday night, a documentary made by the same team behind the acclaimed 2010 documentary The Pipe (which covered the controversial Shell pipeline off the west coast of Ireland) and narrated by Brendan Gleeson.
Atlantic started out as a crowd-funding project and took five years to make and the end result is a compelling and at times disturbing account of three coastal communities in Ireland, Newfoundland and Norway and their struggle to cope with oil exploration and industrial fishing in their waters.
Clip via Atlantic Stream
Those who tuned into Atlantic on RTÉ One on Thursday night expressed praise for its quality, yet the overriding emotion was one of anger at officialdom for the exploitation of resources and its effect on coastal communities.
Thanks a MILLION to all who tuned in to #Atlantic tonight! Could it be your Best Film Irish Film of 2016? Vote now! https://t.co/lWGJx2WEGF pic.twitter.com/KtxHGgYxjC
— Marie-Therese Garvey (@mar_garvey) December 8, 2016
https://twitter.com/beyourownreason/status/806990410006597632
"Never valued and never understood in Dublin". An excellent and tragic summary of how Ireland has treated fishing #AtlanticFilm #Atlantic
— Ciarán O' Driscoll / Ó Drisceoil🇵🇸🇺🇦🏳️⚧️ (@bearaboi) December 8, 2016
Good to see #Atlantic trending. Film once deemed 'too political' to show in Leinster House (it eventually was). Hope ministers now watching.
— Ruairí McKiernan (@ruairimckiernan) December 8, 2016
Brilliant show on @rte about what stupid decisions our governments have made in the past. It really would make your blood boil…#Atlantic
— Mark McHugh (@MarkMcHugh1) December 8, 2016
#Atlantic cut through bureaucratic spin and told a very raw story from WITHIN the small communities directly affected by policy. Sár-obair!
— Seán Mac an tSíthigh (@Buailtin) December 8, 2016
Give a man a fish he'll eat for a day. Teach an irish man to fish he'll get convicted for having a net that might catch a salmon #Atlantic
— Niall O'Connor (@niallspace) December 8, 2016
Giveaway oil.
Giveaway fishing ground & rights.
Giveaway Meat, Milk at cut price.Take…a LOT of bank debt.
— David McWeeney (@ABhoysVoice) December 8, 2016
Sure tis a great wee country. We give away our fish, gas, oil and minerals… The more things change the more they stay the same #Atlantic
— Harry Walsh (@HarryWalsh65) December 8, 2016
https://twitter.com/waynebrereton/status/807030419455700996
You can watch Atlantic on the RTÉ Player here.
You can also vote for it as your favourite Irish film of 2016 on scannain.com here.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
