The Rocky Road to Dublin + Q&A

Bernard Canavan, the celebrated painter whose work chronicles experiences of Irish emigration will join us on stage to discuss the legacy of the Irish Diaspora through both a local and global lens. We will also be joined by Eeva Lennon, the esteemed journalist and wife of the filmmaker, to talk about the filming and legacy of The Rocky Road To Dublin.

The Rocky Road To Dublin (1962), a collaboration between firebrand Irish journalist Peter Lennon and the French New Wave’s cinematographer-in-chief Raoul Coutard, explores the legacy of the Easter Rising and the compromises made in the decades since the establishment of the Republic of Ireland. Interview subjects run the gamut from Catholic priests, young mothers, radical students and GAA players, painting a vivid and uncompromising portrait of a new nation still in the process of defining itself against the Church and English aristocracy. Banned upon its release, The Rocky Road To Dublin has been restored by Loopline Films and will be screened with its essential Making Of documentary and ‘Irish in Brent’, an archival documentary of figures of County Kilburn in the 1970s, generously provided courtesy of Film London – London’s Screen Archives and Brent Museum and Archives.

This screening is presented in association with the Irish Film Institute’s IFI International Programme supported by Culture Ireland.