Silent Grace (2001)
- Directed by
- Maeve Murphy
- Genre
- drama
- Country
- Ireland
- Runtime
- 1h 27m
- Rated
- 15
- Rating
- 6.7 of 10 from 3 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
During the 1980 dirty protest and hunger strike, Republican women prisoners endure harsh conditions in an Irish jail. The film follows their struggle for political status and the friendships that help them survive.
somberintimateresilientbleakslow-burngroundedearnestclaustrophobic
What happens
Silent Grace is a 2001 Irish feature film written and directed by Maeve Murphy. A fictional story based on real events, covering the untold story of Republican women prisoners involvement in the 1980/81 Dirty Protest and first hunger strike. It is about friendship and survival. The film is inspired by Nell McCafferty's The Armagh Women and based on the play/screenplay Now and at the Hour of Our Death that Murphy co-wrote with theatre company Trouble and Strife. Silent Grace stars Orla Brady, Cathleen Bradley, with Cara Seymour, Dawn Bradfield, Carol Scanlan, Conor Mullen, and Patrick Bergin. It received completion funds from The Irish Film Board. Silent Grace was chosen as the UK entry for the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 but as it previously screened in the Cannes market in 2001, it could not be considered any further for competition. The film premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh 2001. It then was selected for the Taormina, Moscow, Foyle, Dinard and Hamptons International Film Festival USA (nominated for the Conflict and Resolution Award). A small cinema release followed in UK/Ireland via Guerilla Films in 2004. The film was made no. 38 in The Irish Times Best 50 Irish films ever made list on 2 May 2020. Silent Grace was critically acclaimed, and was awarded the Soka Art Award (Japan). Silent Grace experienced a revival and wider audience in 2017 after three major articles in the Irish Times Culture section about the women and the film that had been written out of history. On 24 June 2017, TV3 gave Silent Grace its nationwide broadcast premiere at primetime, in the Republic of Ireland, on Be3. TV3 said in IFTN "Silent Grace firmly puts women back in the 1980s narrative and makes compelling viewing". The Sunday Times made it one of the "Films of the Week". The Foyle Film Festival had a special 20th anniversary screening of the film with a Q&A with Maeve Murphy and Orla Brady chaired by James Flynn in November 2020. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
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Bloody Sunday (2002)
Savage (2009)
The Siege of Jadotville (2016)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.