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

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.

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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)

Trailer

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