JDIFF 2012 Reel Art Documentary: The Far Side of Revenge

Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012

Reel Art Documentary: The Far Side of Revenge

Tuesday, 21st February, 6:30pm, IFI

Se Merry Doyle Margo Harkin Seamus Sweeney — Sé Merry Doyle, the film's editor, photographs Margo Harkin and Seamus Heaney.

‘This is a lasting friendship.’ Anne, a former quartermaster with the IRA, speaks in the IFI at the Q&A following Margo Harkin’s The Far Side of Revenge.

It’s exciting and uplifting to see a film that you know has had, and will have, a tangible, positive impact on the world. Margo Harkin’s feature, The Far Side of Revenge, screened last night in the IFI to a receptive and appreciative audience, which included Seamus Heaney as the title of the film was taken from Heaney’s play, The Cure at Troy.

The Far Side of Revenge documents the process of creating a play called ‘I Once Knew a Girl…’ made in Derry by Teya Sepinuck. Sepinuck’s ‘Theatre of Witness’ brings real people together to tell their own stories and, as Teya is quick to point out in the film, this is not drama therapy, but a process with a goal in mind – the performance. Healing occurs as a valuable by-product and the evidence of this is tangible. On screen, you can see the powerful connection that grows between the women despite the deep divides that would normally have prevented them from ever knowing each other. After the screening, the women stood proudly together, hugging and laughing – it’s clear lasting friendships have been made, even between a woman whose husband was cruelly murdered by the IRA and a woman who kept the IRA supplied with weapons.

The documentary was made with Reel Art, an Arts Council scheme designed to provide film artists with a unique opportunity to make highly creative, imaginative and experimental documentaries on an artistic theme. Operated in association with Filmbase and JDIFF, this will be the third year that Reel Art films premiere at the IFI as part of the festival.

Harkin’s is the first of the three Reel Art films screening as part of JDIFF this year. Dreamtime, Revisited by Julius Ziz & Dónal Ó Céilleachair screens on Wednesday, 22nd of February at 6.30pm in the IFI and Wonder House by Oonagh Kearney screens on Thursday, 23rd February at 6.30pm, also in the IFI.

Niamh Creely