NOW IN ITS 40TH YEAR, CONCERN HAS GROWN FROM A SMALL GROUP OF EXTRAORDINARY IRISH PEOPLE RESPONDING TO FAMINE IN BIAFRA, EASTERN NIGERIA, TO ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING HUMANITARIAN ORGANISATIONS.
Working in 30 countries on long-term development programmes, Concern concentrates on solving problems of nutrition, child survival and responding to emergencies. Earlier this year the organisation donated their film collection to the irish Film Archive. in honour of this important deposit, and to celebrate Concern’s birthday, we are pleased to screen two films from the collection. Night Flight to Uli is a Radharc documentary that highlights famine conditions in Biafra during the nigerian civil war. The film follows the journey of airlifted goods from San Tome, an island off the West Coast of Africa, to Biafra for distribution to feeding centres and villages. A number of missionary and aid workers describe the bombing raids and fatalities they have experienced. President and army leader Colonel Ojuku comments on the western aid in the region and the irish government’s refusal to recognise Biafra as a nation. (1968 • 51 min.)
Meet Me in Khartoum portrays Concern’s relief efforts in the Sudan and Ethiopia, focusing on the stories of volunteers helping to run the public health workshops and medical centres in these famine-stricken areas. The film also includes interviews with Bob Geldof, who talks about the irish inclination toward charitable giving, and Mike Farrell of M*A*S*H fame, who comments on Concern uSA’s efforts in Central America. (1986 • 30 min.)