Projects matching: Alison Millar

Synopsis

During the conflict in Northern Ireland a practice developed that saw actors hired to dub those associated with the IRA on broadcast media. Via unseen archive footage and interviews with key figures, THE BAN reflects on the British government’s use of the threat of ‘terrorism’ to justify censorship. Official Selection International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 2024 - International premiere Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025

Synopsis

An emotive, intimate film portrait of the life and death of Northern Irish journalist Lyra McKee, who was murdered by dissident Republicans the day before Good Friday, April 2019. Directed by her close friend, documentarian Alison Millar, the film seeks answers to her senseless killing through Lyra’s own work and words. In just 29 years, she rose from working-class roots in the epicentre of war torn Belfast to become an internationally renowned investigative journalist, seeking justice for crimes that had been forgotten amid the euphoria surrounding the 1998 Good Friday Peace agreement. As the voice of her ceasefire generation, Lyra represented hope for a future free of conflict. Her death is another tragic milestone for a country trying to shake off the shackles of its violent past. Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2022 - Rebellions - UK premiere

Synopsis

Shergar was once the most valuable stallion in the world. His kidnapping in 1983 by the IRA still grips public’s imagination. What really happened with the prizewinning Irish racehorse? BAFTA-winning director Alison Millar goes in search of new evidence to try to solve the mystery.

Synopsis

Are there any such thing as miracles? Mickey McGuigan, a lively 73 year old farmer turned writer, has been documenting those he’s come across, along the Northern Irish border. The stories may defy logic, but people swear by them. This is a disappearing world of pagan folklore and magic. There’s a man who cures cows that suffer from ringworm, by just spitting on them and then there's a woman who can heal babies screaming with the colic by tying a piece of string. One healer has a six month waiting list because people believe he can cure anything, even cancer. A film that explores the thin line between faith and doubt.

Synopsis

Buried under concrete and controversy on the outskirts of Dublin lie the remains of Ireland's pop star priest - Father Michael Cleary. In 1991 as a student Alison Millar moved into his house and started filming him. Fifteen years on, using her unseen archive, this film is the story of the secret life of a man who fooled her, his family and an entire nation.