Northern Irish documentary Bobby Sands: 66 Days will have its Irish premiere at the 28th Galway Film Fleadh, having impressed at the Hot Docs festival in Canada and the Sheffield Doc/Fest.
Bobby Sands: 66 Days, directed by Brendan J Byrne, is a cinematic portrait of the Irish Republican martyr’s epic 66-day hunger strike that grabbed the world’s attention in the early 1980s.
Sands famously led a hunger strike against conditions inside Northern Ireland’s notorious H Blocks that made him an international icon. Seeing himself as a soldier in a conflict, he died for the right to be recognised as a political prisoner. The film’s narrative spine is comprised of Sands’ own words, drawn from his hunger strike diary, a unique insight into the man and his beliefs as he embarked on his final journey.
Using eye-witness testimony, unseen archive, reconstructions and animation, this cinematic odyssey serves as both the definitive account of a self-created Irish martyr and a seismic moment in 20th century Irish history.
The film was produced by Trevor Birney and Brendan J Byrne for Belfast based Fine Point Films / Cyprus Avenue Films with the Oscar winning filmmaker Alex Gibney a consulting producer.
Wildcard Distribution will release the film in Irish cinemas this summer. The 28th Galway Film Fleadh runs July 5th to 10th, 2016. More information can be found on the official website, Facebook page, and Twitter.