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RTÉ News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Belfast's New Lodge comes to the big screen in The Flats
"I'm very interested in watching how people that are very wounded can still stand, how they cope with life." So says Italian director Alessandra Celesia about her award-winning Belfast documentary, The Flats. Winner of the Best Documentary award at this year's Irish Film and Television Awards and also the top honour, the Dox:Award, at the CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen in 2024, The Flats shares the lives and memories of the nationalist community of New Lodge. Mixing interviews, another-day-in-the-life footage, and reenactments, this is a special addition to Irish screen culture and is worth seeking out in cinemas if you want something different. Watch: The trailer for The Flats "I'm so proud of the fact that it's really Belfast. So Belfast," says Celesia as she salutes the locals who agreed to tell their stories. "I think they were brave. They were really brave." Here, Celesia, who lives in Belfast and Paris, talks about bringing The Flats to fruition and the discoveries made along the way. Harry Guerin: How long did it take to film The Flats? Alessandra Celesia: The Flats was a very long process because I started to work on the project eight years ago. Obviously, we didn't film for so long, but it was really just going to New Lodge, stay there, spend a lot of time - nearly like an anthropologist - trying to really deeply understand the place. There are so many shades and many nuances that you need to get before you can even be allowed to film. It was a very long process of coming back and coming back and coming back. Then, the actual filming wasn't that long. We shot for eight weeks, but we had maybe two weeks' shooting and two weeks off in which the team wasn't there, but I was preparing the next two weeks' shooting. What about finding the people who were willing to be on camera and earning their trust? That's something that's always a bit miraculous. You always wonder how people can trust you that much to really share their deepest emotions on the screen. I think it's if you're very, very honest and if you go with very honest intentions. I think for them it's important to understand why you have decided to do it. For me, it's because my husband's family originally is from New Lodge, so it was a very close and loving look I had about the place. And then time spent with them (the interviewees) - I think the secret, it's really time, where you become nearly the wallpaper. They forget that you're from outside. It's about shared intentions; everyone participates in a film like that for different reasons. I think for Joe (McNally, one of the stars of The Flats) it was to understand something about his past that I think probably it [he] was never really allowed to talk through. It's not something that people from the north of Ireland really speak about. Especially men. Somehow, I think he saw in this project a possibility to dig into the past himself. Everyone has, I think, a different 'why' for participating in a project like this. The trust, if you arrived and filmed immediately, you wouldn't get anything. You really just have to spend so much time with them and nearly create the film with them, in the sense that when you start shooting it's because you've been together wondering, 'What are we going to do? What are we going to say?' What was the hardest thing to get right with the film? It was really the consequences of a conflict; the long-term consequences and the trauma that is passed through generations. And how do you speak about that without going to touch things that are deeply unfortunately still there and that create a lot of controversy? How can you speak just about the personal aspect of having gone through trauma? I shot in a very republican area, but, of course, it could have been shot exactly the same in a very Protestant area. So, for me, the hardest thing was, 'Let the big history be behind but never invade our space. Let's try to stick with the very human aspect of the stories'. With the re-enactments, some of the film is very uncomfortable to watch. I can't imagine what it was like actually being in the room as that was taking place. I think when you work on a collaborative film like that there is a moment in which although it's painful, you know that there is something beautiful that's going to come out of it. You know there is some poetry that is going to be put on the pain that people express. So it is painful, but there is something deeply liberating as well. I think it was joyful in the end because every time we shot then we felt a little bit better. We felt, 'Oh, we're being closer to the truth or the memories'. One thing I thought you showed brilliantly in the film is Belfast almost being like a snow globe - the sense that there's no world outside of Belfast. Unfortunately, I think it's very common to a lot of deprived communities. Everywhere you go in an estate, people have a huge problem to see the outside world because they're so stuck in their own problems. They stick together; it has a very strong community that is... it's their strength, but it's nearly tribal. So it's a trap as well. I think doubly in Belfast because the history has made, 'You're on one side, you're on the other side'. And on that side, in your own community, you're someone. The minute you step out, there's nothing left, especially for people who sort of believe in ideals [and] had a moment where these ideals weren't their 'right fight', and then you're left without that. I agree with you, there is something extremely tribal, but it's also their strength. It's also what keeps them alive. I think what I'm happy [about] with the film is that it has been a very community-based film in a way. The community really came together because they thought, 'Oh, there is an opportunity to help someone, in this case Joe, to dig into his memories. Let's do it'. How many hours of footage did you have? That's terrible - I think I had 120 hours! So much - and so many beautiful things as well. It was really, really hard in the editing to let things go. I did it with a Belgian editor (Frédéric Fichefet), and thank God, he was very strong, and he helped me to deal with the loss of beautiful scenes. And then it was difficult to trace, 'What is the story now?' We realised it was this thread of violence that went from the men to the women because, as you see in the second part of the film, you see more of the violence that happened against the women as a result of the main violence going on. So, there is a transformation in the film, and I think at a certain point we realised that. What did learn about yourself as a filmmaker making The Flats? I learned a lot of patience! I didn't think I was patient. I must admit that it was very difficult to pull it together. I mean, the people are fantastic, but it's a process they don't know. So I had to be patient to give them the time to be involved at the right time. But also, what I learned, I think, for me, it was to deeply understand the society where I was brought to live. I'm an outsider. I'm not from there and I will never be really from there. But the privilege of being able to make this film allowed me to get a glimpse of what it is and have a deeper understanding of even our (my) family history. One day, Joe, the main character, said [to me], 'Oh, when are you coming home?' That's really a sentence that's really strong for them... and I was like, 'Oh, maybe I earned a little bit the fact that it is home after 27 years!' The Flats is in selected cinemas now.
The Herald Scotland
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Katie Amess says Kneecap's response in ‘kill your MP' row was ‘gaslighting'
In an interview with the PA news agency, Katie Amess said it is right that the Metropolitan Police are assessing the footage, adding that her father 'would still be here' if officers had 'followed through and looked into threats' against him. Sir David Amess was stabbed to death in 2021 (Ian West/PA) Ms Amess said she was 'absolutely heartbroken' after seeing the clip because it 'brought back so much pain and upset', and called for the group to 'take full accountability' before being allowed to perform on stage. Kneecap denied inciting violence, calling the clip 'deliberately taken out of context', but did say: 'To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies.' Tory Sir David was stabbed to death in 2021, and Labour MP Jo Cox died after being stabbed and shot in 2016. Ms Amess told PA that the Kneecap statement suggested the trio had been 'badly advised' because it was 'deflection and excuses and gaslighting'. She said: 'It was absurd, that's not an apology. It's deflection, it is not taking accountability, it's making excuses. 'They don't understand what they're talking about, they obviously aren't educated enough in what they're speaking about to think that they can use those excuses and everybody will be like, 'oh, never mind, let's move on to something else'.' Ms Amess called on the group to apologise directly to those they had offended. The Metropolitan Police are assessing the footage, along with a video clip from another concert in November 2024 in which a member of the band appeared to shout 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' – groups which are banned as terrorist organisations in the UK. Ms Amess said Scotland Yard should 'absolutely' investigate the matter, adding: 'If the police had followed through and looked into threats against my dad the night before the murder, my dad would still be here. 'So we can't wait until after the act and then say, 'oh dear, lessons will be learned'. No, lessons are never learned. 'When these things happen, when there's a warning, when there's an incitement to do this, we have to get ahead of these things in order to prevent loss of innocent lives. And if we'd have done that with my dad, he would still be here.' Ms Amess also said that Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch may be correct in saying that the group should be banned 'full stop'. She said: 'I think we need to let the police do an investigation. 'I think that maybe Kemi is right. I don't know all the ins and outs of all the history of other stuff that they have said, so I don't want to speak out of line. Kneecap at the Irish Film and Television Awards (Brian Lawless/PA) 'But the police definitely need to investigate and there needs to be criminal action against them. 'And then if we find that, yeah, they really are spouting this kind of rhetoric and they don't understand the consequences, and this has happened consistently and they're not taking accountability, then perhaps, yes, but we should investigate first.' Ministers are putting pressure on the organisers of the Glastonbury Festival over the band's inclusion in the line-up. Ms Amess said: 'For them to get up on stage in front of millions of people, who knows what they're going to say, it could be very, very dangerous.' Sir David, 69, was stabbed to death by Ali Harbi Ali at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on October 15 2021. The MP, a father of five, had been holding a surgery in his Southend West constituency when he was attacked by Ali, who was sentenced to a whole-life prison term for the murder in 2022. A series of threatening phone calls were made to the adult son of the veteran MP the evening before the murder, which police said were 'not linked in any way' to the attack. Ms Amess has called for a full inquest into his death, saying there are still unanswered questions about why the police did not protect his constituency surgery after the threats.
BBC News
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
IFTAs: Kneecap lead nominations ahead of Irish film awards
Members of the rap group Kneecap will compete against Hollywood superstar Cillian Murphy for a major honour at the Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) on Irish-language film about the group is nominated in 17 award three members of the west Belfast rap group are each nominated in the lead actor in a film nominees for best film are Kathleen Is Here, King Frankie, Kneecap, Small Things Like These, Spilt Milk, and The Apprentice. Kneecap, which is based on a semi-fictionalised account of how the rap trio was formed, is nominated under several categories, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best December, the film won seven British Independent Film Awards, including the top honor - Best British Independent Film. All three of the band members - Naoise Ó Cairealláin (Móglaí Bap), JJ Ó Dochartaigh (DJ Próvaí), and Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (Mo Chara) - are nominated in the lead actor in a film nominated in this category is Peter Coonan for his role in King Frankie, Paul Mescal for Gladiator II and Cillian Murphy for Small Things Like These. Murphy, who last year picked up the IFTA, and the Oscar, for his role in Oppenheimer, was nominated as best lead actor in a film for his starring role in the adaption of Claire Keegan's Things Like These was also nominated for best lead actor in a drama nominees include Anthony Boyle (Say Nothing), Colin Farrell (The Penguin), Michael Fassbender (The Agency), Ciarán Hinds (The Dry), Andrew Scott (Ripley) and Aidan Turner (Rivals).An IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to the actor Colm said this year's nominees "reflect Ireland's unparalleled storytelling on the global stage." Disney drama Say Nothing, which is based on a book by Patrick Radden Keefe of the same title, is nominated in 10 categories. It tells the stories of several people living in Northern Ireland during the series stars Lola Petticrew as Dolours Price and Hazel Doupe as Marian Price, young sisters who were prominent members of the the stories featured in the series is that of Jean McConville, who was among those murdered and "disappeared" by the IRA during the series is represented in the director and script categories while Petticrew will compete against Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) and others in the lead actress in a drama Northern Ireland based nominations include Blue Lights, a Belfast based police drama, which is up for best drama and best second season of the BBC drama follows a batch of newly-qualified officers navigating policing in a post-conflict Northern language crime drama Crá, produced by Fíbín Media and Zoogon for BBC Gaeilge and TG4, is also nominated in the drama category. Elsewhere, Saoirse Ronan is nominated as best lead actress in a film for her performance in The on Amy Liptrot's award winning memoir, it's about a young woman returning to her home in Orkney to deal with her past, and her nominated were Carolyn Bracken for Oddity, Jessie Buckley for Wicked Little Letters, Hazel Doupe for Kathleen Is Here, Eileen Walsh for Small Things Like These, and Alisha Weir for stars Simone Kirby, Jessica Reynolds and Fionnuala Flaherty are all nominated in the best supporting actress in a film are joined by Saoirse Ronan for wartime drama Blitz, Clare Dunne for Kathleen Is Here and Zara Devlin for Small Things Like International Film contenders include: Anora, Conclave, Dune Part Two, The Brutalist, The Outrun and The Substance.
