Ireland on Sunday is our monthly showcase for new Irish Film.

Set in Limerick, a place best-known in the media for its array of social problems, Hammer to Bell is a patiently-observed documentary which travels into the core of the city to present a wryly revealing portrait of its inhabitants. Directed by Christina Gangos, an independent filmmaker of Greek origin, the film is a lyrical evocation of an outsider’s fascination with the ordinary and the extraordinary.

She notes: ‘Decisions on what to shoot were kept very fluid and instinctual. Roaming the city, talking to people, stumbling onto locations, walking non-stop for hours and not finding anything, were the core methodologies of research.’ She and her camera achieved a level of invisibility that allowed her subjects great ease and elicited moments of intimacy and humour.

Screening includes Sundance, a short doc about a sheltered occupational service for people with special needs. 10 minutes, 2009, Colour.

Christina Gangos will participate in a Q&A after this screening.