Programme Portfolio
Over the years, DoubleBand has been the proud recipient of two RTS Awards for Best Nations and Regions Programme, shortlisted for a Grierson Award, awarded the title ‘Most Creative Company in the Nations and Regions” by Broadcast Magazine. The company has also received the Channel 4 Creative Cities Award, BBC Regional Development Fund, two Palermo International Sportfilm Festival awards, Belfast City Council Arts Award, Jury’s Acting Award at the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival.
A full list of our credits can be found by scrolling the content on this page.
Title |
Programme Description |
Programme Image |
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TEORAINN |
TG4 - Wednesday 11th November 2009, 9.30pm; BBC TWO Northern Ireland - Sunday 15th November 2009, 7.00pmTeorainn is a new four-part Irish Language documentary series on the dramatic history of the border and its impact on Ireland north and south for almost 90 years.Is sraith úr faisnéise Gaeilge í seo, ina bhfuil ceithre chlár, a dhíríonn ar stair dhrámatúil na teorann agus ar an dóigh a ndeachaigh sé i bhfeidhm ar Éirinn thuaidh agus theas, le beagnach 90 bliain anuas. |
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The School Report |
1 x 60’ BBC NI - 9th November 2009, 9.00pmOutspoken, former Ofsted inspector Chris Woodhead and education campaigner Fiona Millar, offer fresh but opposing perspectives on the education debate in Northern Ireland. Side-stepping the party-political fallout, the pair visit schools and speak to those on the frontline of education – teachers, pupils and parents before sharing their own views with education minister Caitríona Ruane. |
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Harry Ferguson – The Man Who Could Fly |
1 x 60’ BBC NI - 2nd November 2009, 9.00pmIn a major new documentary for BBC One Northern Ireland to celebrate the centenary of flight in Ireland, presenter Eddie Irvine tells the dramatic story of the young aviator Harry Ferguson, the first man in Ireland to fly an plane at Hillsborough, County Down in 1909. |
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High Flyers: How Britain Took To The Air |
1 x 60’ BBC4 - 28th October 2009, 9.00pmIn Britain in the 1920s and 30s a revolution took place that would change forever our perspective on the world. While the country was in the grip of recession, dashing pilots and daring socialites took to the air, pushed back boundaries and forged new links across the globe. The era of commercial air travel was born. This documentary tells the story of this golden age of British aviation and of how the original ‘jet set’ shaped air travel for generations to come. |
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Losing Our Religion |
1 x 60’ BBC NI - 12th October 2009In a major new documentary, William Crawley asks if religion has a future in Northern Ireland. William travels the length and breadth of Northern Ireland to explore the relevance of religious ideas and practices in the lives of both believers and non-believers – and he reveals the role of religion in his own life, both past and present. |
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If Lynch Had Invaded |
1 x 90’ RTÉ One - 1st September 2009At 9pm on the 13th August 1969 the Irish Taoiseach Jack Lynch preparedto make his now landmark broadcast on RTE in response to the outbreak of violence the day before in Derry. It was the greatest challenge to his career so far, as the violence plunged Lynch and his cabinet into crisis on how to respond. Earlier that day he had come under pressure within his cabinet for military intervention in the north. This 90' documentary explores how Lynch dealt with the crisis of August 1969 by examining in forensic historical detail the dramatic events of 13th August at cabinet level in Dublin, Belfast and London, and explores the political consequences had the Irish Army actually crossed the border. |
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Sean Lemass: The Man Who Made Modern Ireland |
1 x 52’ RTÉ One - 30th June 2009In 1959, Sean Lemass became Taoiseach, and led Ireland through a decade of great economic and social change. But who was Sean Lemass, and was he the man who made modern Ireland? Made to mark the 50th anniversary of Lemass becoming Taoiseach, this documentary explores the life and career of one of Ireland's most respected leaders. |
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Best: His Mother's Son |
1 x 90' BBC NI - 26th April 2009Best: His Mother's Son is a fact-based drama that tells the remarkable but little known story of George Best's relationship with his alcoholic mother. It's a poignant tale that foreshadows the very public transformation of one of Britain's most glamorous stars into one of its most notorious alcoholics.The script was written by one of Northern Ireland's leading dramatists, Terry Cafolla, who was nominated for a BAFTA for Holy Cross. It is produced and directed by Colin Barr, who made the Emmy award-winning drama, Maxwell, and 10 Days to War, which recently won an RTS award. It is a BBC network production in association with Doubleband Films with Dermot Lavery of DoubleBand as Executive Producer, and was made with the assistance of Northern Ireland Screen.
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Best: Made in Belfast |
1 x 30' BBC NI - 26th April 2009Best: Made in Belfast will screen immediately following the showing of the BBC2 Network drama Best: His Mother's Son. Filmed during the Belfast based production of the BBC drama, Best:His Mother’s Son, this short ‘making-of’ documentary tells the story behind the 90 minute drama and the creative aims of the team involved. |
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DanceHall Sweethearts |
3 x 30’, BBC NI (2009)Introduced by Strictly Come Dancing star Christine Bleakley, Dancehall Sweethearts is a nostalgic look back at the magical days of the Dancehall. This enchanting series features the romantic stories of people who waltzed, jived and twisted the night away in the dancehalls of Northern Ireland during the war years of the 40’s through the fabulous 50’s and the swinging 60’s. |
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Caravans – A British Love Affair |
1 x 60’ BBC 4 and BBC 2 (2009)Featuring the evocative memories and the unseen archive of generations of enthusiasts, this documentary tells the intriguing story of caravanning in Britain from the 1930s through to the present day. It is the story of a love affair that saw Britain establish the largest caravan manufacturer in the world and one that was to transform the holiday habits of generations of British families. Narrated by Alison Steadman. |
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Superdocs |
3 x 60’, BBC NI (2009)A landmark observational documentary series following some of Northern Ireland's leading surgeons and the patients in their care. With privileged access to staff and operating theatres at the Royal Victoria Hospital and Belfast City Hospital the series is a revealing insight into the professional lives of surgeons, and the trust between them and their patients.Episode One:Matters of the Heart - focuses on the surgical specialism of heart surgery, and follows the work of cardiac surgeons, Gianfranco Campalani and Mark Jones, at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital.Episode Two:The Brain Doctors - follows the work of neuro-surgeons Steve Cooke, Jabir Nagaria and David McAuley at the Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast.Episode Three:Quality of Life - looks at the work of plastic surgeon, Brendan Fogerty, at the Royal Victoria Hospital, and breast surgeon, Sigi Refsum, at Belfast's City Hospital. |
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Dying For a Drink |
1 x 60’ BBC NI (2008)Presenter led documentary which follows broadcaster William Crawley as he explores our strange relationship with alcohol in Northern Ireland. From a night on the tiles to a period of abstinence, we document William’s own relationship with drink, shaped in part by the fact his father was an alcoholic. He also meets those whose lives have been influence by alcohol – from residents at a Belfast wet-hostel to a cardiac surgeon who advocates a little of what you fancy. |
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A Night in November |
1 x 60’ BBC NI (2008)In August 2007, Patrick Kielty took to the stage in Belfast not as a stand up comedian but as a rookie actor in a new production of the controversial Marie Jones' play A Night in November. This compelling behind the scenes documentary reveals whether audiences in Belfast, London and Dublin are ready for such a provocative depiction of the darkest days in Northern Ireland. |
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Super 8 Stories Christmas Special |
1 x 30’ BBC NI (2007)A one off Christmas special taking us on a unique journey into that magical time of the year when Santa Claus is the most hotly anticipated guest in every household in Northern Ireland. Unique home movies offer an intimate and hugely nostalgic look at how we have celebrated Christmas through the years. |
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The Poppy Day Bomb |
1 x 60’ BBC NI (2007)On Sunday 8 November 1987, an IRA bomb exploded as people gathered to mark Remembrance Sunday in Enniskillen. Made to mark the twentieth anniversary of the bomb, this documentary revisits the events of that day and the legacy of one of the worst incidents of the Troubles. |
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A Year In Sex City |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (2007)A documentary following one Belfast couple’s attempt to combat sex tourism in Pattaya, Thailand. Andrew Hall and Roisin McCarroll gave up everything to move to Pattaya and work with street children and people affected by sex tourism. The film reveals the shocking extent of sex tourism in the city as well as the highs and lows of Andrew and Roisin’s journey. |
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The Lost City Of Craigavon |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (2007)Columnist, writer and City of Craigavon native, Newton Emerson, takes a celebratory yet irreverent look at a city which was conceived forty years ago as part of a bold new vision for Northern Ireland. Unearthing the original plans, meeting the visionary architects, encountering the evicted farmers and visiting the residents of the experimental city, he examines how and why the dream faded. |
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Face-off |
1 x 52’ RTE (2007)On the 8th December, 1941, Winston Chruchill sent Eamon de Valera a telegram that contained an astonishing offer: give up your neutrality and you can have a united Ireland. The offer, adds Churchill, is available “now or never.” Taking this intense and momentous exchange as its starting point, this landmark documentary sets-out to explore this key episode in modern Irish history, and through it examine the fraught relationship between de Valera and Churchill, from the War of Independence to their high-profile speeches at the end of World War Two. |
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My Big Fat Moonie Wedding |
1 x 50’, Channel 4 (2007)On July the 1st, 1982 the Unification Church, known then as the Moonies, announced itself on the world stage with a spectacular mass wedding in New York City. This revealing documentary tells the stories of some of those who attended the biggest and most bizarre wedding the world had ever seen, with over four thousand men and women committing their lives to total strangers. |
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Making The Monkees |
1 x 50’, Channel 4 (2007)The Monkees are one of the sixties most enduring bands, whose Saturday morning television appeal and bubblegum pop can still fill a dance floor. But their zany onscreen antics and saccharine hits belied the fact that the foursome, conceived as a clever marketing ploy by two music svengalis, lasted for just 3 years before they self-destructed in a blaze of law suits, recriminations and cult films. This is the real story behind pop’s first manufactured boy-band. |
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The Lion Game |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (2006)In the 1970s the Causeway Safari Park in north Antrim was one of Northern Ireland’s most popular tourist attractions. But for the couple that created the park, it was both a magical family home and a difficult business venture. This documentary recalls happy memories from the park’s heyday and tells the poignant, inside story of a family’s struggle to keep it open during the darkest days of the Troubles. |
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Play It Again Sam |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (2006)An intimate profile of writer Sam McAughtry, a man who has experienced the highs of critical acclaim and the lows of chronic alcoholism. From Tiger’s Bay to the Irish Senate, with a detour on-board The Peace Train, Play It Again, Sam is the story of one of Northern Ireland’s most important literary icons. |
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Eoin O'Duffy - The Making of an Irish Fascist |
1 x 52’ RTE (2006)Gael, revolutionary, chief of police, founding president of Fine Gael and leader of the Irish Blueshirts. General Eoin O'Duffy was all of these and more. Interweaving dramatised sequences with archive and interviews, this compelling documentary sheds new light on one of the most controversial figures of twentieth century Irish history. |
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Monkey Love |
1 x 60’, More 4 (2006)Shortlisted for a Grierson Award, this documentary is a revealing examination of the life and work Harry Harlow, an American research psychologist who was responsible for some of the most controversial experiments to have been performed in animal laboratories. Harlow’s experiments on monkeys were an attempt to understand the nature of paternal relationships. The film explores Harlow’s strained relationship with his own children and asks if cruelty can really teach us anything about love. |
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Hunger Strike |
2 x 52’ RTE (2006)A major 2-part documentary marking the 25th anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike. The programme uses first hand witness accounts, to tell the dramatic secret history of a battle of wits with ten men’s lives on the line and a showdown between the IRA and Margaret Thatcher, in which no side was prepared to give ground. |
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The Day the Music Died |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (2005)In the 1960’s and 70’s, showbands brought respite to the youth of Ireland. One of the most popular, the Miami Showband, traveled north and south of the border impartially entertaining divided communities during the height of the Troubles. This film tells the tragic story of how the band’s innocent members fell victim to the Troubles themselves, at the hands of a UVF gang. It is the story of an event which led to the death of three young men and the death of the showband era. |
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Love and Loss: My African Story |
1 x40’ BBC NI (2005)A moving and inspiring documentary following Belfast priest Father Keiran Creagh’s crusade against the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa. Filming at the hospice in Pretoria which he helped build, the film reveals the plight of those who fight the disease at every level as well as Father Creagh’s own controversial views on sex and contraception. |
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From Belfast To Dachau |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (2005)Teddy Dixon was a typical Belfast Boy, except that he was born in New York. Teddy’s American roots were all but forgotten to him until the day he was told to report to duty with the US Army. As a member of Rainbow Division, Teddy was one of the first servicemen to enter Dachau concentration camp in 1945. What he witnessed has haunted him ever since. This poigniant documentary accompanies Teddy as he is reunited with his fellow servicemen and returns, after sixty years, to Dachau, where the ghosts of his past are laid to rest. Winner of an RTS award for best Nations and Regions programme. |
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The Evacuees |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (2005)Telling the story of those forced to flee Belfast in 1940, this poignant documentary considers evacuation and World War II from the perspectives of those who lived through both as children. The programme draws on the recollections of former Belfast evacuees and follows them as they revisit the places they learned to call home. |
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Who Killed the Rolling Stone |
1 x 50’ Channel 4 (2005)At the age of 21 Brian Jones was the original Rolling Stone. At the age of 27 he was dead, face down, at the bottom his swimming pool. But it was a mysterious death and one that left more questions than answers. This compelling documentary paints a revealing portrait of Brian Jones and gets to the bottom of the mystery. |
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Rising Tide |
3 x 40’ BBC NI (2005)With extraordinary access, and filmed largely at sea, this remarkable three part series gets to the core of the Kilkeel fishing community as it faces an uncertain future. The series charts the tough and dangerous nature of the job of a trawler man and captures the immediate aftermath when three men, three generations from one family, lose their lives at sea. |
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The Explosive 80s: How Heysel Changed Football |
1 x 50’ Channel 4 (2005)/ The Day Football Died RTE (2005)This powerful documentary for Channel 4 and RTE revisits the Heysel Stadium disaster of May 1985, when 39 fans were crushed to death before the European Cup Final between Liverpool FC and Juventus. The film explores how the tragedy plunged English football into a crisis from which was born the modern English game. |
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The Battle With My Brain |
1 x 60’ Channel 4 (2005)Two years in the making, this documentary follows the dramatic story of journalist David Beresford, who suffered the first symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease while covering the Gulf War of 1991. The film charts David’s struggle with Parkinson’s Disease and follows him to France where he undergoes remarkable, pioneering surgery to control the symptoms of the disease. |
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Hidden History: Joe Cahill - IRA Man |
1 x 52’ RTE (2004)Joe Cahill dedicated his life to the bloody struggle for a united Ireland but went on to split with some of his oldest comrades to fight for the peace process in the 1980s. The former gunrunner’s history is the history of the IRA. With a cast of key players and commentators, this compelling documentary tells his story for the first time. |
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We Fought On D-Day |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (2004)Using rare archive footage and stunning eye witness interviews, We Fought On D-Day recounts the previously untold stories of men from Northern Ireland - our own Band of Brothers - who fought for the beaches, towns and villages of Normandy on 6th June 1944 - D-Day. |
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Rwanda FC |
4 x 3’ Channel 4 (2004)Series of short films exploring how football is being used to try to heal the wounds of Rwanda’s bloody past. The series tells the stories of four Rwandan footballers, and their remarkable attempts to come to terms with the genocide. |
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Super 8 Stories - Series 1, 2 and 3. |
4 x 30’ BBC NI (2003, 2004, 2006)Branded, formatted, returnable series featuring home movies, shot on super 8 film, by people from across Northern Ireland. Interweaving personal recollections with the archive material, each episode features an eclectic mix of stories which take a nostalgic look back over 75 years of life in Northern Ireland. |
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Christine's Children |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (2003)25 years ago Christine Lockhart died childless in the IRA bombing of La Mon House Hotel, yet today she has a ‘family’ of 300. Unable to come to terms with Christine’s death, her husband Terry fled Ireland and eventually settled in the Philippines. After a life-changing encounter with two street children, he started, and personally funds, an orphanage for abandoned children. “Every child saved is one more child for Christine.” Winner of an RTS award for best Nations and Regions programme. |
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Roman Abramovich |
1 x 40’ BBC 4 (2003)Revealing profile of Roman Abramovich following his purchase of Chelsea FC which asks where did he come from and how did he make his millions? |
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Seven Days that Shook Sven |
1 x 50’ Channel 4 (2003)Through seven key, dramatic days in his life, this programme explores what lies behind Sven Goran Eriksson’s mask of melting ice. What emerges is a complex and contradictory portrait - a coach who has won top football honours, yet repeatedly failed to rise to the big occasion; a respected leader of men with serious question marks over his commitment to country, club and women. |
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Beckham and the Battle with Argentina |
1 x 50’ Channel 4 (2002)Shown as part of Channel 4’s Football Stories strand. With David Beckham looking uncertain for the 2002 World Cup finals after his clash with Argentinean Aldo Duscher, this documentary charts the explosive 35 year feud between their two nations, when football became war by another means. |
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George Best's Body |
1 x 50’ Channel 4 (2001)A film about the gift of talent and the burden of fame, George Best's Body is an innovative ‘biographical X-Ray’ of the former Manchester United star which uses different aspects of Best's physique to tell the story of his turbulent life. |
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Don’t Look Down |
1 x 52’ RTE / BBC NI (2000)Documentary charting the story of thirteen young people from the Markets, Short Strand and Lower Ormeau areas of Belfast, embarking on an intense, American-style tough love programme, organised by the charity Youth at Risk. |
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Maradona: Kicking the Habit |
1 x 50’ Channel 4 (2000)This documentary joins the stricken star in Havana, Cuba, at the La Pradera health spa, where he is receiving medical treatment after suffering a heart attack which he denies was brought on by a cocaine overdose. Maradona - Kicking the Habit raises the question of whether or not Maradona is a national disgrace, a once great footballer who has brought disgrace on his country, or an exploited legend deserving of our understanding. |
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Still Life |
1 x 15’ BBC / RTE / Channel 4 (1998)An elegiac and poignant short film which explores uncomfortable aspects of our attitudes towards old age, staring Agnes Bernelle. “Still Life... is a brave and quite beautiful 15 minutes of film from Belfast1s Double-Band Films...old age as a work of art.” (Sarah Caden, The Sunday Independent.) |
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Too Late For Names |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (1998)A poignant documentary about stillbirths and the silence which has been created by taboos and traditions surrounding those who have lost a child at birth. |
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Escobar’s Own Goal |
1 x 50 Channel 4 (1998)Winner of the Italian Olympic Committee Award at the 1998 Palermo Film Festival and shortlisted at the Banff World Television Festival, this documentary explores the circumstances of Andrés Escobar’s murder and looks at how football at all levels in Colombia has been dominated and brutalised by the power and money of the country’s drug cartels. |
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Women’s Work |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (1997)A documentary exploring the role of women in politics in Northern Ireland. |
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Down to Earth |
6 x 20’ Channel 4 (1997)A five-part geography series for Channel Four schools, co-produced with Besom Productions, Derry. |
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Down the Street of Dreams |
1 x 70’ BBC 2 / BBC NI (1996)Filmed over three years in locations throughout America, Ireland and Japan, this documentary follows boxer Wayne McCullough and his manager and American TV svengali, Matt Tinley in their attempts to win a world title. |
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More Than A Game |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (1995)A documentary about Gaelic football, exploring the passions that the sport creates, both at local club and county level. |
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A State of Crisis |
1 x 52’ RTE (1995)A documentary marking the 25th anniversary of the Irish arms crisis. |
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On the Road/A Place Apart |
2 x 30’ RTE (1995)Companion-piece profiles of communities, post-Peace Agreement, on the Shankill Road and in South Armagh. |
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The Trouble With Art |
1 x 40’ BBC NI / RTE (1994)A documentary exploring the role of visual artists in Northern Ireland. |
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Chalkmarks |
1 x 10’ BBC 2 (1994)A short film looking at the effects of the ‘Troubles’ on education in Northern Ireland. Shown as part of the BBC’s ‘25 Bloody Years’ season. |
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Between the Hedges |
1 x 30’ BBC NI (1993)An award-winning documentary looking at the sport and sub-culture of motorcycle road racing in Northern Ireland. |
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Belfast Boxers |
1 x 30’ BBC NI (1993)A documentary exploring the world of boxing in the city of Belfast. |
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Hard Act |
1 x 40’ BBC NI (1993)A documentary about young offenders in Belfast and their involvement in a unique community circus project. An Aisling Films production for BBC NI, directed by Michael Hewitt of Double-Band Films. |
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The Soviet Session |
1 x 52’ BBC / RTE (1991)A documentary following a group of Irish traditional musicians on tour to Moscow and the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan. |
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An Irish Artist in New York |
1 x 52’ RTE /UTV (1989)A documentary about the experiences of four young Irish artists living and working in New York City. |
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