Bobby Sands: 66 Days

Bobby Sands: 66 Days is a 2016 documentary film about Bobby Sands and the 1981 Irish hunger strike from Northern Ireland.[1][2]

Bobby Sands: 66 Days
Advertising poster
Directed byBrendan J. Byrne
Produced byTrevor Birney
Written byBrendan J. Byrne
StarringMartin 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
Distributed byWildcard Distribution
Release date
  • 3 May 2016 (2016-05-03) (Hot Docs)
  • 5 August 2016 (2016-08-05)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryIreland
LanguageEnglish

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).[3]

Reception

The Irish Times awarded the film four stars out of five, calling it " a comprehensive, balanced, gripping tale of terrible times."[4] 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."[5] As of 16 August 2019, the film had a 90% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 71 ("generally favourable") on Metacritic.[6][7]

Several unionist politicians criticised the fact that the film received funding from the state (via Northern Ireland Screen and the BBC).[8]

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."[9]

References
  1. "Bobby Sands: 66 Days". Galway Film Fleadh.
  2. "Bobby Sands: 66 Days". Wildcard Distribution.
  3. "Bobby Sands movie breaks Irish box office records (VIDEO)". irishcentral.com. 10 August 2016.
  4. Clark, Donald (4 August 2016). "Bobby Sands: 66 Days review: A gripping tale of terrible times". The Irish Times.
  5. Lowry, Andrew (2 August 2016). "Bobby Sands: 66 Days". Empire (magazine).
  6. "Bobby Sands". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  7. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bobby-sands-66-days
  8. Rainey, Mark (17 July 2016). "MP to challenge BBC over funding for Bobby Sands film". Belfast Newsletter.
  9. "'Bobby Sands: 66 Days' documentary – 'Powerful and emotionally charged,' says H-Blocks campaigner". An Phoblacht. 14 August 2016.


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