What do people do when the law prevents them from protecting themselves? That’s the question at the heart of The Pipe, a stirring, character-rich documentary from Risteard O’Domhnaill about Shell vs Rossport, Ireland, where the oil company decides to run a gas line, and the community decide otherwise.
Athlone Film Club will present this stirring but controversial documentary on Tuesday February 8 at 8pm in the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone.
The film is beautifully composed and valiantly photographed. But it’s also politically astute: it isn’t just one village that’s at stake, but democracy itself. Shell will move on, The Pipe implies, but the wounds left behind on a small community like Rossport- where neighbours essentially fought neighbours- will take generations to heal, if at all.
Narrationless and musically upbeat, the film begins in 2005, with arrest of what would become known as the Rossport Five, locals who refuse to allow Shell to lay pipeline across their land. Among them was Willie Corduff, who not only exemplifies how a Rossport waterman makes a living.
O’Donmnaill’s access to the Rossport citizenry seems to have been unlimited, and just as he portrays a people pulled together by common grievance, he also gets inside the verbal warfare that threatens to pull them apart.
There is a currency and urgency about this charismatic David-Goliath tale that has gripped and wowed audiences worldwide. The film has also won numerous awards at international film festivals.
Come along on February 8 and see this riveting documentary for yourself. Temporary membership for the night is €8 and as usual there will be a prescreening complimentary wine reception in the theatre bar.
For more information email [email protected] or log on to www.athlonefilmclub.com
