Across and In-Between: The Documentary explores the profound impact the border in Ireland has on the lives of people living there during a time of intense international focus around Brexit.

 

The project deeply engaged people living and working on each side of the border in Ireland:

 

The Yellow Line: In five rural regions where the borderline between Northern Ireland and Ireland is indiscernible, residents engaged in playful construction of unique 'actions' expressing their various sentiments and hopes for the future of their region. The actions were filmed, resulting in a three–screen film projection made with farmers, horse–owners, scouts, hikers, and villagers from communities across Fermanagh, Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan, and Monaghan.

 

Border People's Parliament: At the height of the Brexit crisis, 150 people arrived at Northern Ireland's Parliament Buildings, Stormont, for a Border People's Parliament. On 20th October 2018, guests were part of a carefully staged event, their opinions recorded in Parliamentary committee rooms and their photographic portraits captured. Over dinner, they participated in drafting The Yellow Manifesto - A True Account of a Border and its People, launched on the Today programme, BBC Radio 4, 22nd October, 2018.

 

Both parts of the project are brought together in the documentary film following the participants' journey from the border to Parliament - featuring interviews, the process behind the artwork, and the drafting of a manifesto revealing lessons participants learned from life on the borderlands in Ireland.

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Directed by Conan McIvor, in collaboration with Suzanne Lacy

Sound by Thayna McLaughlin and Michael McKnight

Additional camera operation by Michael Daly

Producer: Cian Smyth

Co-Producer: Helen Sharp

Featuring Garrett Carr (Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen's University Belfast)

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First presented at Belfast International Arts Festival 2018

 

A co-commission by 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Art Commissions and Belfast International Arts Festival with support from: the National Lottery Heritage Fund; Arts Council England; the Department of Digital , Culture, Media and Sport; and the Government of Ireland through the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht; and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Reconciliation Fund).