The Looking Glass Anthology is to be showcased at Docs Ireland in The Mac on Saturday 2 July at 8pm.
A joint audio-visual project between Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive and PRONI is to be showcased at Docs Ireland at a special event in The Mac on Saturday 2 July at 8pm.
The Looking Glass Anthology is a collection of beautiful, thought provoking, audio-visual works by a range of musicians and poets based on material from 160 hours of UTV cine film, captured during its first decade of broadcasting from 1959 to 1969.
The showcase at the Docs Ireland festival will include screenings, live performances and a discussion with the project’s artists including Matt McGinn, Rachel Boyd, Stephen Sexton and Malojian.
The works in the collection include:
‘The Turning of the Tide’, a blend of song, orchestration and poetry by Hilltown singer/songwriter Matt McGinn using footage of a well-known Belfast character and performed with Arco Quartet and poet Natalya O’Flaherty.
A poem by Stephen Sexton, entitled ‘The Actualities’ that reflects on the people of Northern Ireland looking to the future. The poem has been set to music by Ian Livingstone.
The ‘Borders’ project, an audio-visual response to the archive utilising the track ‘Arrival’ by Elma Orkestra and Ryan Vail.
A traditional cinematic composition by Rachael Boyd entitled ‘Wanderers’, responding to archive footage of Itinerants in 1960s Ireland.
The project received funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland as part of an archiving scheme to preserve a record of Irish culture, heritage, and experiences.
Richard Williams, Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Screen said:
“We are very pleased that The Looking Glass Anthology will be showcased at this year’s Docs Ireland festival. From the outset of the project, Northern Ireland Screen wanted to ensure that generations to come can continue to value our lost traditions and recall these moments from the most ordinary everyday occurrences, to lost traditions and times of high political drama.”
“Saturday’s screening at Docs Ireland will give a further platform to the projects artists to share their art and bring this beautiful archive footage back to life in new and imaginative ways.”