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October 18th Release Date  
IFI Dublin & Lighthouse Cinema, Smithfield, D
ublin 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.

Synopsis
Directors Note

© 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

Directors

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

family

THE FAMILY

Film Specs

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.

Credits

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

Reviews
Contact
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Contact Us

Farcry Productions Ltd

1 New Line Road, Killorglin,

Co. Kerry, Ireland

Email: landwithoutgod@gmail.com

Tel: (00 353) 87 224 6664

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© P.Ogden

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