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 THE
ROAD OF WOMEN - VOICES OF IRISH WOMEN POLITICAL PRISONERS - a documentary
directed, produced & edited by Melissa Thompson
- music by Kíla & Charlie Engstrom
- camera: Lea
Aylett and Barbara Henkes
- assistant
producers: Mary McAuliffe and Gráinne Close
PRESS / REVIEWS
“...One of the
most important records of the issue of women prisoners in the history of the
Irish Troubles... The affirmation of the experience of women exprisoners who have been marginalised
was welcomed by the women exprisoners in the
audience and by their community. This event was very well attended, and we
have received many requests to screen it again.”
•
Michele Devlin
Director
Belfast Film Festival
“A clear and
harrowing account of the role played by women political prisoners in the
Irish struggle for freedom. Some of the history outlined in this film will be
familiar to progressive American audiences, some, less so. What is quite new
is the portrait of the women themselves. In plain, quiet voices they describe
the conditions they faced, how they felt and how they resisted. What emerges
is a sharp sense of how their courage served the purpose of human progress:
progress for all women prisoners in obtaining dignity and better treatment at
the hands of our jailers, and progress for the Irish republican cause. I am
grateful to Melissa Thompson for making this film, and by doing so, making a
record of the accomplishments of these women. By documenting their suffering
and how they were able to turn it into a weapon against their enemies,
Thompson also helped me make sense of my own history as a US political
prisoner, and where that history fits into a wider human and political
experience.”
• Laura Whitehorn
Former US Political Prisoner and
Prison Rights Activist
“Though there have been books
written about Irish women republican prisoners, this may well be the first
documentary where women prisoners are the exclusive focus...”
•
Dylan Foley
The Irish Voice
SYNOPSIS
"This is the road we’re on. None of us
created this road. This road was here when we were born..." -
Interview with Roseleen Walsh, internee and writer
 "Everything
that took the political prisoner into prison is there with them morning,
noon, and night. So whatever fear might be there you have the added help and
strength of everything that’s behind you in your history and your counry’s history, and the people before you that
did it, and God help us the people after you who may
have to do it." - Interview with Ella O’Dwyer,
exprisoner
"Don’t be worrying, Mummy, as this is
one fight we aren’t going to lose." - Letter from 17 year old
woman hunger striker
 Voices of Irish Women Political Prisoners take us on a journey to Northern Ireland, a journey into
and out of prison, a journey of personal and political struggle and growth.
The landscape of these voices is represented by archival footage - of the
Troubles, internment, the rise of the republican movement, the hunger
strikes, the peace process - and contemporary footage of the prisons where
women have been held. Personal stories are foregrounded
to explore the complexities of the conflict in ways journalism has not. What
does it feel like to grow up in a war zone patrolled by a foreign military?
What are the sounds and textures of prison? Women’s letters smuggled
out of prison, originally written on small squares of toilet paper, are
presented as text superimposed on the prison walls, marking the space with
women’s unflinching words. Women interviewed include Martina Anderson and Ella O’Dwyer (who together spent 14 years in prison
and successfully campaigned for major structrual
and human prison reforms in England), Rosie McCorley
(exprisoner support worker, Coiste
na n-Iarchimi), Roseleen Walsh (internee
and writer), Mary Nelis
(community activist and Sinn Fein representative), and Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (legendary human rights activist).
•
THE ROAD OF WOMEN is an important testimony to political activism. It
speaks to a wide range of audiences - community organizations, film and
cultural festivals, Irish and women’s studies conferences, university
classes, prison reform advocates - and anyone interested in human rights.
THE ROAD OF WOMEN is part of the Slí na mBan documentary
series and online archive on Irish women activists.
Visit Slí
na mBan to read transcripts
with all the women interviewed in this and other parts of the documentary series, watch preview clips and find links to related
resources.
ORDER A COPY / CONTACT
Please stay tuned to find out how to purchase a copy of the video
online. In the meantime, please email me if you'd like to obtain a copy or
have questions about the documentary. - Melissa Thompson
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