October 18th Release Date
IFI Dublin & Lighthouse Cinema, Smithfield, Dublin 7
Synopsis
An intimate portrait of a family coming to terms with decades of institutional abuse and the impact it has had and is still having on their lives.
The film examines the legacy of Institutional abuse by the Irish Church and State over the last century. The story follows the writer, Gerard Mannix Flynn, together with generations of his family who for the first time, speak openly together about their childhood traumatic experience of being removed from the family home and being incarcerated in children’s homes and industrial institutions run by religious catholic orders. Here the children worked the land from dawn until dusk, ill-clothed, half-starved day in day out. The regime was merciless.
It focuses on the impact that violence had and is still having on them and their class. Why did this happen? How does one exit the trauma buried deep in the bones of generations? Is it possible to walk away free? And will they let you?
Flynn leads us through the story of modern structured slavery. He becomes the receiver of the intimate tales of his family. He listens, witnesses and carefully archives their stories within his own story.
© P.Ogden
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
I have been making work on Irish institutions of confinement since I was 15 years of age. I began my writing while incarcerated in prison. Since then, I have published many books, written plays and created visual artworks that have been distributed throughout the world and performed internationally. At the same time, I have had to watch my family disintegrate, my community collapse and my class annihilated by what happened to many of us while incarcerated in State institutions as children.
Our story has always been stolen, sold and told by somebody else. We have been pitted rather than given justice. This film is told by those who witnessed, experienced and suffered the institutions first hand, my family.
For over forty years I have tried to come to terms with what had happened to me, personally, in those institutions. I searched in the wilderness for answers, for reasons, for justice. Nothing came of it. The more I searched for answers the more there was none. My history simply wasn’t recorded.
I want this film to redresses that absence and silence and correct the historical record. This is an opportunity to ensure Ireland’s history and our history is included and written by those who experienced the unthinkable and who live to this day with the unfixable.
For the generations to come questions will be asked about this chapter in Irish history. The grandchildren of those who were incarcerated will want to know, will have a right to know, what kind of history shaped their lives.
Gerard Mannix Flynn
DIRECTORS
LAND WITHOUT GOD
is a collaboration between three artists
Gerard Mannix Flynn, Lotta Petronella, Maedhbh Mc Mahon
MAEDHBH
MC MAHON
Maedhbh Mc Mahon is an artist, scenographer and costume designer. She studied film at the Lux Centre, Raindance, and Westminster College, London. McMahon worked in costume design on films such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, James Bond, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Troy and many more. In 2005 she completed an MA in St Martins London in Scenography basing her research on the Magdalene Laundry institutions. Mc Mahon joined Farcry Productions in 2006 and has been a partner in its art practice and cultural output since then. Mc Mahon is currently working on a large-scale textile project investigating the legacy of the Artane Boys Band.
© P.Ogden
GERARD MANNIX
FLYNN
Gerard Mannix Flynn is an acclaimed playwright, artist, author and performer. Born in Dublin, he is one of the most provocative and eloquent literary voices at work in Ireland today. His work deals with issues around institutional abuse, imprisonment, violence, child sexual abuse, addiction and injustice. In addition to his work as an award-winning actor, writer and playwright, Gerard is also an elected member of Dublin City Council.
LOTTA PETRONELLA
Lotta Petronella is an acclaimed filmmaker. Based in Finland, she has 15 years of experience as a director, producer, and writer of documentary and art films. Her films have been shown internationally and in 2015 she was awarded the renowned Stina Krook Prize for her outstanding work as a filmmaker. Petronella is currently working on her new feature film SJÄLÖ - The island of Souls, produced by Ulla Simonen/MADE.
Petronella holds a Masters in Creative Documentary from Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, 2017.
family
THE FAMILY
Sister
Brother
Sister
Brother
Sister
Nephew
Nephew
Niece
Nephew
Nephew
Nephew
Brother/Uncle
FILM
SPECIFICATIONS
LAND WITHOUT GOD
(2019)
Genre
Documentary
Length
74 mins
Language
English
Release Date
2019
Format
DCP
Country of Production
Ireland
Original Text/Concept
Gerard Mannix Flynn
Directors
Gerard Mannix Flynn
Lotta Petronella
Maedhbh McMahon
Producer
Gerard Mannix Flynn
Cinematorgraphy / Editor
Lotta Petronella
Production Company
Farcry Productions Ltd
Composer
Laura Naukkarinen
Sound Designer
Janne Laine
Post Production
Meguru Film Sound Helsinki
Post Production
Windmill Lane Dublin
CREW
DIRECTED BY
Gerard Mannix Flynn, Lotta Petronella, Maedhbh McMahon
WRITER/NARRATOR
Gerard Mannix Flynn
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Lotta Petronella
EDITOR
Lotta Petronella
SOUND DESIGNER
Janne Laine
RESEARCH
Maedhbh McMahon
MUSIC
Composed and Produced by
Lau Nau (Laura Naukkarinen)
Arranged and played by
Laura Naukkarinen
Pekko Käppi
Cormac Begley
Tuija Kuoppamäki
CONSULTANT EDITOR
Irene Bartolomé
LOCATION SOUND
Maedhbh McMahon
PRODUCERS
Gerard Mannix Flynn/Farcry Productions
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Gabriel Byrne
Susan Bergin
Alan Moloney
Maedhbh McMahon
Lotta Petronella
SOUND POST PRODUCTION
Meguru Sound, Helsinki
SOUND RE-RECORDING MIXERS
Janne Laine
Olli Pärnänen
FOLEY STUDIO
H5 Film Sound
FOLEY ARTIST
Heikki Kossi
FOLEY MIXER
Kari Vähäkuopus
EDIT AND POST PRODUCTION FACILITY
Windmill Lane Pictures Dublin
DIRECTOR OF POST PRODUCTION
Timothy Morris
POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Clodagh Z. McCarthy
COLOURIST
Matt Branton
ONLINE EDITOR
Robbie O’ Farrell
TITLE DESIGN
Niall McCormack
MADE WITH SUPPORT FROM
Fís Eireann/Screen Ireland
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
James Hickey
PRODUCTION EXECUTIVES
Emma Scott
Alan Maher
FILMED ON LOCATION IN:
St. Conleths Reform School, Daingean, Co Offaly
St. Josephs Industrial School, Letterfrack, Connemara, Co Galway
St. Josephs Orphanage, Passage West, Co Cork.
City of Dublin
WEB DESIGN
Tanya Gilsenan Blair
©Copyright 2019 Farcry Productions Limited
All Rights Reserved.
A Farcry Productions Ltd film.
THIS FILM IS DEDICATED TO ALL THOSE WHO SUFFERED IN IRELAND’S
RESIDENTIAL INSTITUTIONS AS CHILDREN AND ADULTS.
REVIEWS
Flynn’s brothers and sisters recall many years spent behind high walls. They speak frankly about how truanting and troublesome children were routed into industrial and reformatory schools, and later into mental hospitals and prisons. In doing so they provide an articulate and dignified commentary on an approach to poverty and delinquency that left an enduring mark. The cumulative impact of their recollections is almost overwhelming... READ MORE
Ian O’Donnell, 28 March 2019, The Times
“Last Thursday, I had the privilege of seeing Mannix Flynn’s autobiographical film, Land Without God, a powerful evocation of an individual and a family harrowed by the suffering they endured in various institutions in Ireland... READ MORE
Caitriona Crowe, 4 March 2019, Irish Examiner
Contact Us
Farcry Productions Ltd
1 New Line Road, Killorglin,
Co. Kerry, Ireland
Email: landwithoutgod@gmail.com
Tel: (00 353) 87 224 6664