Two Irish documentaries, Here Was Cuba and The Summit will screen at Sheffield Doc Fest, the UK’s leading documentary festival and market which takes place from June 12-16th.
The screening will be the World Premiere of the new Irish feature documentary Here Was Cuba, the directorial debut feature from multi award winning editor Emer Reynolds, co-directed by John Murray. The film tells the inside story of the Cuban Missile Crisis exploring how in October 1962 the earth teetered on the very brink of nuclear holocaust. Here Was Cuba is produced by Crossing the Line Productions, with the support of Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board and PBS in the US.
Featuring dramatic interviews with key witnesses and experts including Sergei Khrushchev, son of the former Soviet premier and, in one of his last ever interviews, John F Kennedy’s trusted advisor – Ted Sorensen – Here Was Cuba is an edge-of-your seat tale of espionage and intrigue at the highest level, offering a fascinating perspective on one of the most harrowing times in modern history.
Speaking about the world premiere at Sheffield, director Emer Reynolds says “John and I are so thrilled that our film Here Was Cuba will screen at Sheffield Doc/Fest, one of the major festivals in the world for documentary. It’s an honour to be able to premiere our film to such a documentary-loving audience, especially on the occasion of Sheffield’s 20th Anniversary. We are really looking forward to screening the film there and hearing the response.”
Meanwhile Nick Ryan’s film The Summit, the story of the most dangerous and deadly mountaineering mission on K2, hailed as the climbing film of the year, will have a special screening at High Peak Cavern, Castleton, as the festival transforms the cave into a cinema for a very unique screening experience.
