Irish Film Institute -International Film Directory – Film Listing

The Pipe

    • Director

      Risteard O'Domhnaill

    • Credits

      Producers: Risteard O'Domhnaill, Rachel Lysaght

  • Category

    Documentary
    Irish Language

Local opposition to a gas pipeline in the West of Ireland is already seen to have caused the imprisonment of five activists when this documentary account of the ongoing battle between Shell Oil and a County Mayo community picks up the story. These arrests sparks protests which delay construction, and provoke police violence towards the protestors.

Director Risteard Ó Domhnaill, acting initially as a news cameraman, captured the development of the story over several years. Refusing to glamorise this story of a rural town facing down big business The Pipe records community meetings collapsing into acrimony, whilst bribery fragments what is a politically disparate movement. Seen also however is the indomitable will which leads to hunger strikes, offshore blockades, and a challenge against Shell which is brought to the European Parliament. A powerful documentary about an often fractious struggle, The Pipe punctuates the story of escalating protests with anecdotes from locals explaining their connection to the land and the kinds of lives that would be destroyed were the pipeline to be operational.

Awards:
Feature Documentary Award at the 8th Irish Film and Television Awards 2011.
 
For more notes on The Pipe see this IFI blog from director Risteard Ó Domhnaill 

83 minutes, Ireland, 2010, Colour

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