Sinéad O’Shea’s, A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot, Set to Compete for F:ACT Award at CPH:Dox
Posted: 21st February 2018
Sinéad O’Shea’s debut feature documentary, A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot, has been shortlist for a F:ACT Award at the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival (CPH:DOX) — one of the largest and most prestigious documentary festivals in the world.
The F:ACT Award is dedicated to films in the field between documentary filmmaking and investigative journalism. This year, 10 films are nominated in this prestigious competition, consisting of four world premieres, five international premieres and one European premiere. A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot, will receive its international premiere at CPH: DOX.
One night Majella O’Donnell took her teenage son Philly to be shot in both legs. Majella, Philly and his shooters are all part of the dissident Republican community in Derry, Northern Ireland. The Troubles officially ended in 1998 but this dissident community is still at war. They do not accept the Good Friday peace agreement, the government or police. Some members are in armed groups. They respond to so-called antisocial behaviour with kneecap shootings, banishment and even murder. All this happens within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. How do you bring your son to be shot? What happens afterwards?
Filmed over the course of five years, A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot presents a shocking portrait of the complexities of a post-conflict society.
A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot is produced by Ailish Bracken and Sinead O’Shea for Blinder Films, with co-producer Figs Jackman for Spring Films. Joshua Oppenheimer, André Singer, and Katie Holly served as executive producers and the film was financed by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board.
CPH:DOX runs from 15 – 25 March 2018 and more information can be found here.