| Bobby Sands: 66 Days | |
|---|---|
 Advertising poster | |
| Directed by | Brendan J. Byrne |
| Written by | Brendan J. Byrne |
| Produced by | Trevor Birney |
| Starring |
|
Production companies | Cyprus Avenue Films Fine Point Films |
| Distributed by | Wildcard Distribution |
Release dates |
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Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
Bobby Sands: 66 Days is a 2016 documentary film about Bobby Sands and the 1981 Irish hunger strike, which lasted for 66 days, from Northern Ireland. [1] [2]
The film mixes reenactment, animation, interviews and archive footage to relate the story of Bobby Sands and the 1981 Irish hunger strike, as well as covering the events leading up to the hunger strike and its complex legacy. Martin McCann reads several excerpts from Sands' own diary.
Bobby Sands: 66 Days premiered at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto on 3 May 2016. It went on general release in Ireland on 5 August 2016, where it set a record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for an Irish documentary film (€50,933 or £43,300), and the second-highest for any documentary (behind Fahrenheit 9/11 ). [3]
The Irish Times awarded the film four stars out of five, calling it " a comprehensive, balanced, gripping tale of terrible times." [4] Empire said " Narratives of the Northern Irish Troubles are a nightmare of bias and bullshit — this superior doc does better than most in cutting through both." [5] As of 16 August 2019 [update] , the film had a 90% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 71 ("generally favourable") on Metacritic. [6] [7]
Several unionist politicians criticised the fact that the film received funding from the state (via Northern Ireland Screen and the BBC). [8]
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD, who was Director of Elections for hunger striker Kieran Doherty in 1981 and a National Executive member of the Anti H-Block/Armagh Committee, praised the documentary as "powerful" and "emotionally charged for republicans who had participated in the struggle" during those years. However, he was critical of the prominence given to Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole, describing his on-screen analysis as "insulting, completely off-the mark" and "deserving of derision." [9]
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners. In 1978, the dispute escalated into the dirty protest, where prisoners refused to leave their cells to wash and covered the walls of their cells with excrement. In 1980, seven prisoners participated in the first hunger strike, which ended after 53 days.
Daniel Gerard Morrison is an Irish former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer, author and activist who played a crucial role in public events during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. An Irish republican, Morrison is also a former Sinn Féin publicity director and editor of Republican News and An Phoblacht. He is the secretary of the Bobby Sands Trust and current chairman of Féile an Phobail, the largest community arts festival in Ireland.
The August 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election was the second by-election in the same year, held in Fermanagh and South Tyrone on 20 August 1981. It was seen by many as a rerun of the earlier contest in April. The by-election was caused by the death of the IRA hunger striker and MP Bobby Sands.
Joseph McDonnell was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike.
Edward Martin Hurson was an Irish Republican hunger striker and a Volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). He was the sixth Irish Republican to die from starvation during the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike.
Thomas McElwee was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer who participated in the 1981 hunger strike. From Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, he died at the age of 23 after 62 days on hunger strike.
Some Mother's Son is a 1996 film written and directed by Irish filmmaker Terry George, co-written by Jim Sheridan, and based on the true story of the 1981 hunger strike in the Maze Prison, in Northern Ireland. Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoner Bobby Sands led a protest against the treatment of IRA prisoners, claiming that they should be treated as prisoners of war rather than criminals. The mothers of two of the strikers, played by Helen Mirren and Fionnula Flanagan, fight to save their sons' lives. When the prisoners go on hunger strike and become incapacitated, the mothers must decide whether to abide by their sons' wishes, or to go against them and have them forcibly fed.
Sherrybaby is a 2006 American drama film written and directed by Laurie Collyer. Screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2006, the film received a limited release in the United States on September 8, 2006.
Patrick Quinn was a volunteer with the 1st Battalion, South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike.
The Representation of the People Act 1981 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates the provision for the automatic disqualification of an MP if they are imprisoned for over a year, leading to a by-election being held in their constituency.
Martin McCann is a Northern Irish actor. In 2020, he was listed as number 48 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Laurence McKeown is an Irish author, playwright, screenwriter, and former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike.
Between 1 March 1976 and 3 October 1981, Irish republican prisoners in HM Prison Maze carried out a variety of protests against the withdrawal of Special Category Status for prisoners convicted of proscribed "terrorism" offences. These protests culminated in the 1981 Irish hunger strike in which ten prisoners died.
Twist of Faith is a 2004 American documentary film about a man who confronts the Catholic Church about the abuse he suffered as a teenager, directed by Kirby Dick. The film was produced for the cable network HBO and screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.
Hunger is a 2008 historical drama film about the 1981 Irish hunger strike. It was directed by Steve McQueen and starred Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, and Liam McMahon.
Robert Gerard Sands was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze in Northern Ireland. Sands helped to plan the 1976 Balmoral Furniture Company bombing in Dunmurry, which was followed by a gun battle with the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Sands was arrested while trying to escape and sentenced to 14 years for firearms possession.
Hitchcock/Truffaut is a 2015 documentary film directed by Kent Jones.
Strike a Pose is a Belgian-Dutch documentary film, which premiered in the Panorama section of the 2016 Berlinale. Directed by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, the film profiles the dancers who performed with Madonna on her Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990.
Time is an Academy Award-nominated 2020 American documentary film produced and directed by Garrett Bradley. It follows Sibil Fox Richardson and her fight for the release of her husband, Rob, who was serving a 60-year prison sentence for engaging in an armed bank robbery.
Eternal Spring is a 2022 Canadian adult animated documentary film written, directed and co-produced by Jason Loftus. Based around the animation of Chinese artist Daxiong, the film centres on Falun Gong's 2002 hijacking of broadcast television stations in Changchun, and China's continued repression of ethnic and religious minority groups.
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