An award-winning film about people living in flats in the New Lodge areas of north Belfast is to open this year’s Docs Ireland festival next month.
The Flats, a documentary by Alessandra Celesia, details the lives of residents living in and around New Lodge.
It follows four people from the working-class, Catholic community as they revisit the collective memories that shaped their lives and the district they live in.
Described as “emotionally taut, haunting in its authenticity and bursting with characteristically dark Belfast humour”, The Flats “invites the audience into both the past and the present of the tumultuous world of the New Lodge flats”.
Its screening at Belfast’s Cineworld on June 18 comes after the film was recently awarded the most prestigious prize at CPH:DOX, one of the largest documentary film festivals in Europe.
The Docs Ireland festival will also include Palestinian films and talks, including screenings of Three Promises, Between Two Crossings, Restriction and The Cities We Live In, which will be used as fundraisers for Medical Aid Palestine.
There will also be a talk from Queen’s University Professor Des O’Rawe on European representations of Palestine on Film and an ‘In Conversation’ event with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Asif Kapadia.
Speaking to filmmaker Lisa Barros D’Sa, Mr Kapadia will be discussing his work and his upcoming project, 2073, a genre-bending documentary set in the future.
He will also be presented with the prestigious Docs Ireland International Award for Outstanding Contribution to Documentary.
Workshops, panels and case studies will also take place, including one focusing on the Nordic region and the infrastructures and mechanisms which keep it sustainable.
There will also be the return of the Northern Ireland Screen Pitch, when new projects will be revealed in front of a panel of experts for the chance of winning an award of £9,000 funding towards a pilot for a documentary feature.
Stuart Sloan, Docs Ireland programmer, said: “We can’t wait to welcome our audiences to the sixth Docs Ireland to celebrate documentary, from Ireland and around the globe.
“Our opening night film is Alessandra Celesia’s multi award-winning exploration of life in the New Lodge in north Belfast.
“First conceived at Docs Ireland’s Marketplace in 2019, The Flats follows a series of residents in their daily lives, struggles and victories.
“We also welcome one of our documentary heroes, Asif Kapadia whose work has changed the documentary landscape over the last decade - and we cannot wait to hear from him at a live public event on 22nd June.
“As a documentary festival, we often screen films that examine the longer term legacies and consequences of colonialism throughout the world.
“This year, the devastating short-term impacts of colonialism have never been more clear.
“We feel it is not time to look away, and are presenting a series of films from Palestine through our continued partnership with Filmlab in Ramallah.”
