7.8 /10 1 Votes
96% Rotten Tomatoes Directed by Brendan J. Byrne Written by Brendan J. Byrne Initial release 3 May 2016 Screenplay Brendan J. Byrne | 7.3/10 IMDb 2.5/4 Roger Ebert Produced by Trevor Birney Distributed by Wildcard Distribution Director Brendan J. Byrne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Martin McCann
Fintan O'Toole
Charles Moore
Richard English
Norman Tebbit
Tim Pat Coogan
Dessie Waterworth
Gerry Adams Production
company Cyprus Avenue Films
Fine Point Films Cast Martin McCann, Fintan O'Toole Producers Brendan J. Byrne, Trevor Birney Similar Hunger, A Date for Mad Mary, The Young Offenders, The Land of the Enlightened, Some Mother's Son | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hot docs 2016 trailers bobby sands 66 days
Bobby Sands: 66 Days is a 2016 Irish documentary film about Bobby Sands and the 1981 Irish hunger strike.
Contents
Robbie collin reviews bobby sands 66 days
Production
The film mixes reenactment, animation, interviews and archive footage to relate the story of Bobby Sands and the 1981 Irish hunger strike, as well as covering the events leading up to the hunger strike and its complex legacy. Martin McCann reads several excerpts from Sands' own diary.
Release
Bobby Sands: 66 Days premiered at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto on 3 May 2016. It went on general release in Ireland on 5 August 2016, where it set a record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for an Irish documentary film (€50,933 or GB£43,300), and the second-highest for any documentary (behind Fahrenheit 9/11).
Reception
The Irish Times awarded the film four stars out of five, calling it " a comprehensive, balanced, gripping tale of terrible times." Empire said " Narratives of the Northern Irish Troubles are a nightmare of bias and bullshit — this superior doc does better than most in cutting through both." It currently enjoys a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Several unionist politicians criticised the fact that the film received funding from the state (via Northern Ireland Screen and the BBC).
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD, who was Director of Elections for hunger striker Kieran Doherty in 1981 and a National Executive member of the Anti H-Block/Armagh Committee, praised the documentary as "powerful" and "emotionally charged for republicans who had participated in the struggle" during those years. However, he was critical of the prominence given to Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole describing his on-screen analysis as "insulting, completely off-the mark" and "deserving of derision."