... 30 January 1972 — Derry, Ireland
Bloody Sunday — the movie, by Don Mullan
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Bloody Sunday 2005 commemorative events timetable
Time for Truth From Bogside to Basra
Each year the annual Bloody Sunday commemoration programme of events seeks to breathe life into the inscription on the monument to the victims of that day: “Their epitaph is in the ongoing struggle for democracy.” So while remembering the 14 local people murdered on Bloody Sunday and their families’ continuing struggle for truth and justice we also consider the consequences this act of state terrorism, continues to have on events right up to this day.Had Lord Widgery in 1972 acknowledged the truth of what happened on Bloody Sunday, it may not of itself have fundamentally changed the nature of the British State or its role in Ireland. It would however have made it harder for that state to continue to sell the lie that its army was an impartial ‘peacekeeping’ force. In turn this would have made it more difficult for its soldiers to continue to literally get away with murder here and for the same unwritten institutional policy to be now claiming the lives of uncounted victims in Iraq.
So as this year’s programme creates space for a local assessment of ‘The Truth of Bloody Sunday’ in the wake of Lord Saville’s inquiry and we wait to see if he has the courage to tell that truth, we will not just reflect on our experience of British Army occupation here but use it to better understand the plight of the peoples of the Middle East.
‘From Bogside to Basra’ will discuss the illegal US/UK occupation of Iraq through the lens of Fallujah and Bloody Sunday. ‘An Fhirinne’ will remember the many victims of state collusion here, and it is appropriate that this year’s ‘Memorial Lecture’ will be delivered by Geraldine Finucane, wife of the murdered solicitor Pat Finucane. ‘Conflicts of Remembrance’ will explore the difficulty in finding ways to remember all the dead of a conflict when the truth of what it was is still disputed. ‘At a Crossroads’ will compare and contrast the prospects of building a just and lasting peace in Ireland and in Palestine. For the duration of the week’s events, Free Derry Wall will be painted in the colours of the Palestinian flag as an act of solidarity.
More generally these events create a space to come and reflect with others on the importance of democracy here and throughout the world and to stand shoulder to shoulder, in solidarity with the families of the victims of Bloody Sunday and victims of injustice everywhere.
Truth-seeking in the cause of justice Programme Film Strand There is a crucial connection between justice and journalism. How can we build the solidarity needed to create justice if facts are distorted and the context that generates the facts is seldom if ever reported? And there is always the ultimate sanction of the powerful, where journalists who seek to report the full picture, themselves become a target.
All screenings 8pm at the Gasyard Centre (except Divine Intervention, see below), Admission Free Monday 24 January Free Derry Tours/ Bloody Sunday Tour.
Tours at 2.00pm Monday to Friday, departing from the Bloody Sunday Centre in Foyle Street. Tours at 12noon and 3.00pm Saturday will depart from Pilots Row. Family members or some of those wounded will accompany each tour. Tours cost £4.00 per person Mon-Fri (Saturdays free). For bookings contact Ruairi on 07793 285972.
(EXHIBITION) ‘Murder on a Sunday’, AOH Hall, Foyle Street
An exhibition of Charlie McLaughlin’s paintings about Bloody Sunday will be on display in the AOH in Foyle Street from 24 January.(EXHIBITION) An Fhirinne Exhibition Launch, Pilots Row, 7.30pm
The Mayor Councillor Gearoid O hEara, will launch this powerful photographic exhibition of over 200 victims of state collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, followed by speakers from An Fhirinne Campaign and the Pat Finucane Centre. Exhibition runs each day until Saturday 30th January. All Welcome.(FILM) News from the Holy Land (UK, 2004, 50 mins, Documentary) Gasyard Centre, 8.00pm
Written/Directed by Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick this is an illustrated call for a change in the way the Palestine-Israeli conflict is reported.Tuesday 25 January Museum of Free Derry Exhibition launch, Bloody Sunday Centre, Foyle Street, 7.30pm
An exhibition detailing the Bloody Sunday Trust’s plans for the Museum of Free Derry in Glenfada Park. Exhibition open Tuesday 25 January to Tuesday 1 February(FILM) Death in Gaza (UK, 2004, 80 mins, Documentary), Gasyard Centre, 8.00pm Written/Reported by Saira Shah, Filmed/Directed by James Millar, this is his poignant and unflinching look at the lives of three Palestinian children caught up in the cycle of violence, dramatically culminating in the director’s own death at the hands of the Israeli Security Forces.
Wednesday 26 January (FILM) Bi Dam (With Blood) (US, Work in Progress, 50 mins, Documentary), Gasyard Centre, 8.00 pm
By Dan O’Reilly Rowe and Juliana Friedman. Using personal situations to demonstrate the spirit crushing impact of the occupation on health care, Bi Dam gives insight into a crucial aspect of life in the cities, rural villages, and refugee camps of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Introduced on the night by Juliana Friedman (producer/director) Bloody Sunday Memorial Quiz, Sean Dolan’s GAA Club, Creggan, 9.00pm.
All welcome, £10.00 per team.
Thursday 27 January
(PANEL DISCUSSION) From Bogside to Basra, Gasyard Centre, 7.00pm
Ironically the 30th January is the date the US Government chose for ‘their’ elections in Iraq. From three very different perspectives the panel will discuss the US/British illegal occupation of Iraq through the lens of Fallujah (where 13 civilians where shot dead by US Marines at a peaceful protest on 30th April 2003) and Derry’s Bloody Sunday. Speakers: Eddy Cherry, a former British Soldier, stationed in Derry, now a leading member of ‘Ex Soldiers Against The War’, Dr Abdul Al-Jibouri an Iraqi scientist, living in Derry and Paul O’Connor, Coordinator of The Pat Finucane Centre, Derry. Chair: Jim Keys (FILM) Divine Intervention (Yadon Ilaheyya) Gasyard Centre, 8.30pm (2002, Fr/Ger/Morocco/Neth/US, 93 mins, Feature) Divine Intervention (Yadon Ilaheyya) reeled in the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festive and went on to win the Screen International Award at the European Film Awards. However the US Academy Of Motion Pictures told the producers of the film that it was not eligible to compete in the Academy Awards (The Oscars) ‘as Palestine is not a state we recognise in our rules’. So it’s with great pleasure that we have this opportunity to screen this feature as part of this year’s programme. It’s an engagingly offbeat Palestinian response to how Israeli checkpoints disrupt and frustrate the lives of ordinary individuals. The film begins with a deadpan comic sequence involving neighbourly neuroses, rivalries and rage in Nazareth. There is intelligence and freshness in the film’s mostly wordless comic style.Friday 28 January Bloody Sunday Memorial Mass, St Mary’s, Creggan, 7.30pm.
All Welcome.
(MEMORIAL LECTURE) Annual Bloody Sunday Lecture, Guildhall, 8.15pm
The Annual Bloody Sunday Lecture, delivered this year by Geraldine Finucane, widow of the murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane. Event sponsored by the Bloody Sunday trust and the Pat Finucane Centre. Admission by donation.Saturday 29 January (PANEL DISCUSSION) Conflicts of Remembrance, Pilots Row, 12noon - 2.00pm
Panel discussion and question and answer session where guest speakers will explore how and why we remember victims of conflict.(PANEL DISCUSSION) The Truth of Bloody Sunday: Perspectives
Pilots Row, 2.00pm - 3.30pm.
Speakers John Kelly, brother of Michael, shot dead on Bloody Sunday, legal academic Angela Hegarty, Writer/academic Niall O Dochartaigh. The panel will present their perspectives on Bloody Sunday as people who have followed the Saville Inquiry, before the event is opened up for a Q & A with the audience. The event will close with the launch of an updated edition of Niall O’Dochartaigh’s book ‘From Civil Rights to Armalites’ which includes a new chapter on Bloody Sunday.(PANEL DISCUSSION) Holy Cross in Context: Communities in Conflict over Shared Space in North Belfast, Pilots Row 3.30 - 5.00pm
Was the horror at Holy Cross School in 2001, as loyalists attacked the school, the result of a breakdown of relations between two communities? Or just naked sectarianism? What was the damage and were any lessons learned? Anne Cadwallader, author of: “Holy Cross - The Untold Story", Tom Holland, republican community activist and Louanne Martin, who interviewed the children, try to answer these questions.(FILM) Film Screenings, Pilots Row, 12noon - 5.00pm
‘ Dangerous Liaisons’ (BBC Spotlight documentary on collusion); ‘Lifting a Dark Cloud’ (PFC produced documentary on Kathleen Thompson) & ‘Bloody Sunday: Massacre of the Innocents’ (Canada, documentary) (PANEL DISCUSSION) At A Crossroads: Palestine & Ireland, Road Maps & Road Blocks to Peace Calgach Centre, 7.30pm Speakers Dr Jamal Zahalka and Mitchel McLaughlin.Dr Jamal Zahalka, a Palestinian MP who sits in the Israeli Knesset and Mitchel McLaughlin MLA, Sinn Fein Chairperson and senior negotiator, will discuss the Irish and Palestinian peace processes, state repression and violence. Dr Zahalka has been centrally involved in the struggle for truth and justice around Israel’s own ‘Bloody Sunday’ against the Palestinian people. As Palestinians living inside Israel came out onto the streets in support of their comrades staging of a second intifada in the occupied territories, the Israeli police force opened fire, shooting 13 people dead. Since that day in October 2000 Jamal Zahalka has been working closely with the families of the dead in their efforts to take a legal case against the Israeli police force and its government. Dr Zahalka will speak on life as a Palestinian living inside Israel, on Israel’s murderous occupation of Palestinian land and its ruthless response to Palestinian resistance through its intifada. He will also speak on the current situation and the future direction for the peace process following the tragic death of President Arafat and the election of Mahmoud Abbas as the new leader of the Palestinian people.
Traditional Music Night, Solas Arts Centre, Great James Street.
Traditional music, Adm £3.00, BYO.Bloody Sunday Fundraiser, Gasyard Centre, 9.00pm - 1.00am
Live music and DJs - Cruncher, Gary Og, Declan McLaughlin, Eileen Webster, DJ One-Shot, Eamonn McCann, Joe Mulheron, Paul McCartney and Robbie McVeigh. Adm £5.00, BYO.Sunday 30 January Memorial Service at the Bloody Sunday Monument, Rossville Street, 11.30am sharp.
All welcome.
(MARCH & RALLY) Bloody Sunday March and Rally, Creggan shops, 2.30pm
Speakers from the Bloody Sunday Families, an Fhirinne, Guest International Speaker, Palestinian MP, Dr Jamal Zahalka, Sinn Fein and the SDLP.
BLOODY SUNDAY — the movie
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by Don Mullan'Bloody Sunday' is a critically acclaimed low budget movie with a big impact. It truthfully recounts the events of Sunday, January 30, 1972, a traumatic afternoon for my community in Derry, when British Paratroopers shot 27 people, 13 of whom died that day.
Since 1996 I have worked closely with the Bloody Sunday families as part of their campaign for justice and truth. With their support, I published 'Eyewitness Bloody Sunday' (Wolfhound Press 1997) a book which became an important catalyst in their campaign for the establishment of a new Bloody Sunday Inquiry.
The book was also the inspiration for two British filmmakers, Mark Redhead and Paul Greengrass, to make the movie. They invited me to be co-producer and, with the support and cooperation of the Bloody Sunday families and wounded, we set about making the first full length feature film, simply called 'Bloody Sunday'.
By Hollywood standards our budget was small ($4.3 million). However, despite the low budget our cast involved over 10,000 people. In Derry, upwards of 7,000 people volunteered in freezing cold and wet weather in February 2001 to help us recreate the original march for the purpose of the film.
When the film was shown to the Bloody Sunday families and wounded in Derry earlier this year, it was, at its conclusion, given a standing ovation. For the filmmakers, it was both a humbling and encouraging endorsement. Since then, the film has astounded us by the impact it has made and the awards it has received worldwide. In Italy, for example, the demand was such that four copies of the film soon spiralled to over 60 showing across the nation, netting over $1 million in box office sales! To date, the film has won six international awards (Australia, Croatia, Germany, Israel, Portugual and the USA) including 'Best Picture Awards' at the prestigious 'Sundance Film Festival 2002' and the 'Berlin Film Festival 2002'. It has now been selected for the New York Film Festival from which it will begin a tour of the United States, Canada and other worldwide territories, promoted by Paramount Classics.
Eventually 'Bloody Sunday' will be available in North America and elsewhere on video and DVD. However, it was made primarily as a theatrical piece and, as such, its full impact can best be experienced in that medium. Together with the families who lost loved ones on that day, we are hopeful that the film will be supported initially in New York and in other cities and towns throughout North America. I am writing especially to encourage as many people as possible in the New York area to come and see the movie. Paramount Classics have predicted that if New York in particular leads, the rest of the country will follow. So, we appeal to those in the New York area, and the east coast in general, to come and see it and encourage your families, relatives, friends and associates to see it also.
I genuinely believe that 'Bloody Sunday' is one of the most important films to be made about the 'Troubles' in the last 30 years. It contextualises the destruction of the non-violent Civil Rights Movement and the accendency of the armed struggle. One critic described our movie as "a pain-filled masterpiece". What is most important is that it was made by Irish and British people together. Those participating included families of the victims, the wounded, eyewitnesses to the massacre in 1972 and former British soldiers who had served in Northern Ireland. The making of the film was, in reality, a mini peace process. It has a very authentic feel about it. Everyone on its production worked with integrity to tell the truth about the horror and consequences of that terrible day.
With the Bloody Sunday families support, I was co-producer of the movie, consultant and march organiser. I worked alongside English director, Paul Greengrass and English Producer, Mark Redhead, two of the most honourable people I have ever encountered in my professional career. The movie was a co-production between Granda Films and Jim Sheridan's 'Hell's Kitchen'.
The movie has been critically acclaimed throughout the world. For example, the following is a quote from Peter Traver's review in the September 2002 edition of 'Rolling Stone' magazine:
"Look for Paul Greengrass' volcanic re-creation of the massacre in Northern Ireland on January 30th, 1972 - immortalized in the song by U2 - to take on the giants in the race for best picture of 2002. The film is also a triumph for actor James Nesbitt, who plays civil-rights leader Ivan Cooper with an intensity of feeling that will leave you shaken. And to think this stunner of a film cost less ($4.3 million) than it takes to keep Harry Potter in wands."Travers went on to predict: "Bloody Sunday star James Nesbitt may be the actor of the year."
The movie will open at the New York Film Festival on 2nd October at the Lincoln Center.
Below is a Paramount Classics link which gives more details about the movie including access to a trailer:
http://www.paramountclassics.com/bloodysunday/
Just a couple of days after Bloody Sunday the bereaved families had to endure another wound when, through their New York Consulate, the Government of Prime Minister Edward Heath disseminated lies to the world media about the dead and wounded, suggesting that many were gunmen, bombers. They also alleged some were on the Army's wanted list. At the time the families did not understand the power of the first sound bite. However, their epic struggle for justice has reached historic proportions and they are an inspiration to people around the world who are fighting against powerful forces for Human Rights and Justice. This movie is dedicated by Paul Greengrass, Mark Redhead and myself to the Bloody Sunday families and all who seek Truth, Justice and accountability for Human Rights abuses throughout the world.
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