Summary: A committed anti-British documentary shot in the underprivileged Catholic community of Ulster dealing with life behind the barricades and under internment.
Description: This documentary was shot over a period of three years by a film collective who lived with Catholic families in Derry and Belfast. The overriding theme is that "England has been the one country to stand in the way of every Irishman, Protestant or Catholic, over the decades". There is film taken inside 'Free Derry' the commune created in August 1969 to protect Catholics from the RUC. The documentary stresses the economic deprivations of the community, including a very high unemployment rate. There is much footage from the streets of Derry in which the British Army is seen as a hated, foreign, occupying force. There is film of Army baton charges and arrests and various unsuccessful attempts at crowd dispersal. The second part of the film deals with the issue of internment, including accounts by those interned of how they were tortured and the response by their wives and families to internment. The film ends with a woman's anti-internment march in January 1972 and marches after Black Sunday.
Alternative Title:
Colour:B&W
Digitised:
Object_Number:PME 82
Sound:Sound
Access Conditions:NON-IWM
Featured Period:1946-1975
Production Date:1974
Production Country: GB
Production Details: Berwick Street Film Collective (Production company)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army (regiment/service)
Keywords: law and order, British - detention: internment, Northern Ireland (object name)
law and order, British - use of troops: Northern Ireland (object name)
politics, British - alternative: march, anti-internment (object name)
politics, British - alternative: sectarianism, Northern Ireland (object name)
society, Irish - domestic: 'Free Derry' commune (object name)
society, Irish - history: Ulster (object name)
Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK (geography)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Sound
Soundtrack language: English
Title language: English
Subtitle language: None
Technical Details: Format: 16mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 4
Footage: 4180 ft; Running time: 115 mins
