Introduction by Alan Gilsenan, filmmaker and Tom Arnold, CEO Concern Worldwide.

The remarkable forty-year history of the non-governmental agency Concern Worldwide mirrors the story of Ireland’s ever-changing engagement with the developing world in recent times. Looking at the work of thousands of Irish volunteers in Africa and Asia, Alan Gilsenan’s new film (here receiving its world premiere) draws out the personal struggles behind the headlines. For example, how a simple pragmatic idea solved the problem of lost children as one million Rwandan refugees walked relentlessly towards the Congolese border. Extracts from Concern’s early films (now preserved in the Irish Film Archive) are augmented by contemporary footage on the ongoing work and interviews with Kofi Anan, Seamus Heaney, Mary Robinson and Jeffery Sachs.