Human Rights Festival Collab

Despite the stormy weather (thanks Storm Bram!), our joint programme for this year’s NI Human Rights Festival proved to be a big success!

Delivered through a collaboration between Ulster University’s Cinematic Arts, Queen’s University Belfast (Dr. Lauren Dempster), Conflict Textiles (Roberta Bacic), INCORE (Prof. Élise Féron and Prof. Brandon Hamber), and the Tower Museum (Margaret Edwards and Bernadette Walsh), the programme brought together students, researchers, and the public to engage meaningfully with human rights issues through film.

My students and I delivered two events in Derry as part of the programme. The first was a screening of the powerful animated documentary Cade Heleny/Searching Heleny, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Esther Vital. I was deeply inspired by Esther’s participatory filmmaking approach and her sensitivity when working with such a challenging subject (the disappearance of Heleny in Brazil.

The second event, Truth, Memory, Justice, was a curated short film programme by my Cinematic Arts student Jessica Buchanan and PhD researcher Tabassum Islam. It was wonderful to see them play such a central role in planning and delivering the event - proud teacher moment indeed! The films were followed by an insightful panel discussion with Brandon, Élise, Roberta, and Esther, chaired by Tabassum. It was great to see so many students in attendance especially as it's their last week before the Christmas break!

Our third event (smartphone filmmaking workshop) had to be cancelled due to the storm and campus closure, but we were very grateful that the other two events were able to go ahead safely. Many thanks to my great partners Lauren, Roberta, Élise, Brandon, Margaret and Bernadette for the smooth planning journey and to everyone who joined us across the 3 days.

Photos by Ben Lundy

First Women in Heritage film is launched

What a night, South Armagh! I’m still buzzing after our Women in Heritage film launch last night at the Ó Fiaich Centre in Cullyhanna.

We had a full house, with over 50 people braving the freezing weather to watch the film, listen to beautiful music from young local musicians, and most importantly, celebrate Úna Walsh’s incredible work in preserving and sharing the history/heritage of South Armagh.

This feature documentary film was created as part of my Ulster University's research project Creative Archives, in partnership with the dream team Lynsey Gillespie (PRONI), Bronagh McAtasney (Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive) and Emma Mc Aleer (Rural Community Network) and editor/co-director Tara McKevitt.

It was truly a community effort from start to finish: everything you see on screen was created by participants during a Summer participatory filmmaking project, where they learned how to film using their phones.

Standing in that room, surrounded by people genuinely moved by Úna’s work, reminded me why this matters so deeply: community, collaboration, and finally giving recognition to women’s vital contributions to NornIron's heritage!

Thank you to everyone who came along and to all who helped make this film. I’m so proud of what we created together and can't wait to continue sharing it with the world!

Úna’s full oral interview will soon be available at PRONI and the film will go on the festival circuit before being made publicly accessible through the Digital Film Archive.

And this, hopefully, is the first of a series of films about women's vital contribution to NI's heritage. Watch this space 👀

Halloween Youth Camp

We had a great time at our Halloween Youth Camp in our Derry campus yesterday!

I couldn’t be prouder of our Woodlouse Studios team, a student-led enterprise formed by Ulster University Cinematic Arts and Games Design students on their placement year.

They planned and delivered the entire camp with such creativity, professionalism, and enthusiasm.

The dream team

Throughout the day, they guided young participants in making their very own short zombie film. It was so inspiring to watch them share their skills and passion for storytelling with younger generations!

You can watch their amazing creation here:

Huge thanks to Ulster University and the Department for the Economy for supporting this initiative, and to Derry Halloween for including us in this year’s programme.

Days like this remind me why I love what I do: seeing my students grow in confidence, collaborate so beautifully, and use their talents to inspire others.