Local Film 'No Go - The Free Derry Story' Shortlistted for Grierson Documentary Awards

The spotlight of the documentary-making world will be on Derry on Friday 23 November as a local film goes head to head with a host of international films at the Grierson Documentary Awards in London.
‘No Go - The Free Derry Story’, directed by Vinny Cunningham for Derry-based Open Reel Productions for BBC NI in association with Northern Ireland Screen and the Irish Film Board, has made it through to the final shortlist of four films in the ‘Best Historical Documentary’ section at the awards ceremony which will take place at Savoy Place, London.
This latest accolade follows on from the ‘Irish Film and TV Award’ nomination for the film in January and a range of international screenings in Germany, Australia and the USA. Cunningham's previous success includes an IFTA win for the ‘Battle of the Bogside’ film.
Both ‘No Go’ and ‘Battle of the Bogside’ document the events in Derry in 1969 that were the beginning of the conflict there and feature a wide range of local contributors including Paddy ‘Bogside’ Doherty, Gregory Campbell, Martin McGuinness, Ivan Cooper and Eamonn McCann. Both documentaries have received wide critical acclaim.
The Grierson nomination has taken the work to a new level, Cunningham said:
"The Grierson Awards are a high point for documentary makers in the UK and Ireland – the shortlist is drawn up by a really high calibre panel of industry experts and has an international range. We are up against films looking at subjects as broad as the Hungarian Revolution and the Jonestown Massacre, and to have made the shortlist from an entry of hundreds is terrific. The response from within the industry in Ireland has been fantastic. What also pleases me is that ‘No Go’ was made by an almost 100% Derry-based crew, from the writing right through to the final edit by Kevin Murray based at The Nerve Centre."
Travelling to the ceremony with Cunningham will be co-producer and writer John Peto.
The awards ceremony takes place as the team are putting the finishing touches to their latest film, ‘Exodus’, which looks at the decline of Derry’s Cityside Protestant population since 1969. This is due for delivery to BBC NI at the end of November and should be hitting the screens in the New Year.
(DS)