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Director
Aoife Kelleher
Credits
Writer:Rachel Lysaght
Category
Documentary
In 1879, fifteen people in the village of Knock, Co. Mayo witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The village was declared a Marian Shrine and today welcomes over one million pilgrims annually. Aoife Kelleher (One Million Dubliners) builds a vibrant portrait of the phenomenon through its devotees – invalids seeking cures; the eight sibling owners of rival religious merchandise shops; a woman relieved of MS during a 1970s pilgrimage; feisty Mildred, advocate for gender parity for the shrine’s handmaids; the staff of the Knock Marriage Bureau; and Fr. Richard Gibbons, the charismatic, outward-looking Parish Priest, working to attract transatlantic visitors to the shrine. With its references to ‘the scandals’, falling church attendances and the eighth amendment, the film presents a timely reflection on the position of the Church in modern Ireland and a compelling glimpse into an anachronistic but thriving world. Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn
90 minutes, Ireland, 2016, Colour
AMERICAN INDEPENDENTS: CLERKS 18.20
ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: BRITISH & IRISH (PROGRAMME 1) 12.50 12.50
CROSSING 13.00, 18.10
HEART OF AN OAK 13.10
LA CHIMERA 15.45
SHAYDA 15.30, 20.30
SLEEP 13.40
THAT THEY MAY FACE THE RISING SUN 20.50
THE COMMANDANT’S SHADOW 18.30
THE CONVERSATION 50TH ANNIVERSARY 4K RESTORATION 20.40
The IFI is supported by The Arts Council