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THE CELTIC CONNECTION » NOVEMBER 1996
MOVING NEW DOCUMENTARY HAS UNIVERSAL MESSAGE
By ROBERT HENDERSON VANCOUVER — A new film documentary called A Leap of Faith, narrated by Liam Nee-son and directed by Jenifer McShane and Tricia Regan, depicts one small school's struggles for peace during a
year of horrifying violence in Northern Ireland.
This is a deeply moving and scrupulously balanced documentary about the efforts to establish an integrated primary school—one that accepts both Catholic and Protestant children — in Belfast
during the year before the recent ceasefire. Here, we meet a cast of both the courageous and the weak.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Tricia Regan when she visited Vancouver for the International Film Festival.
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Regan explained that work on the film started back in 1989, after her partner Jenifer McShane spent eight weeks volunteering at Hazelwood Integrated School in Ballymena.
Both of these young American-Irish women knew that there was something in the integrated schools issue and decided to make a documentary.
They were both involved in the film industry but had never made a feature and they certainly didn't have the money to do it. But make it they did!
One of the most heartbreaking lines I have ever heard was captured in this documentary.
"The trouble with Northern Ireland", says a young mother, "is not a fear of terrorism, it is the fear of change." One really must repeat this several times to realize the horror and the truth of it.
In one of the documentary's news broadcasts, they show a family funeral with three coffins being borne along in the procession.
Now, how exactly does one answer the question of a six-year-old, "Why was one a white coffin, instead of a regular coffin?"
We can easily sense the mother's pain in her search for an explanation to her daughter, "That was because it was a child's coffin."
The amazing thing about McShane and Regan's skills as film makers is how they were able to capture the delicate balance between both sides. If they had a bias, it was not apparent.
What was apparent, was that some of the people traditionally looked upon for guidance, both politically and religiously, have desperately failed their followers.
The Reverand Dennis Faul, a Catholic priest from Belfast, cannot contain his anger. He is especially angry with the Catholic Bishops in England — they don't understand.
Young Catholics need Irish-Catholic teaching, and only Catholic teaching (none of this non-denominational stuff), pounded into their heads on a daily basis.
Political leader, Ken Maginnis, a Protestant Member of Parliament, sneeringly dismisses the unfairness of "subjecting children to integration only to find that they face 'real-life' when they enter the work force."
Real life means they learn to hate the opposi tion like everyone else. "There are two traditions and they are not going to change. And that's that!"
Despite the intolerance of leaders on both sides, the school's Christmas pageant comes across
as a refreshing psychological triumph. From anger and pain, the film moves to compassion and love.
We watch the little children all dressed as trees. Everyone has a part and everyone is the same (no Catholic trees and no Protestant trees).
What a beautiful sight to view the audience from the back of the stage. All those courageous parents smiling with joy — a small victory achieved.
When I spoke with Regan, I asked about Neeson's participation in the film. Having just finished watching Neeson play the lead in Michael Collins, I wondered how two young directors managed to get him for their film and how he was to work with.
Regan replied, "We knew a friend (of Liam's) and she said, 'Just ask him', so we did. He was great. One day I said, 'Oh my god, I'm directing Liam Neeson tomorrow, I've never directed anyone before, except my boyfriend'.
"Well, he walked in, exactly on time, sat down and made one or two suggestions on word changes — remember I had never written narration before.
"He got everything on the first take and he was finished in less than an hour.
"A lot of the credit goes to him, although he said he realized he was just a sound in this documentary, the picture was what was important. Liam said that when he left Northern Ireland that he never wanted to go back, but he loved the film.
It made him cry and laugh, but mostly it gave him hope. He said it made him want to go back to Northern Ireland, which is something he hadn't felt since he left Belfast 15 years ago."
She described Helen Farrimond, the teacher whose efforts brought the school into being saying, "Helen is an excellent educator, she is an excellent principal and she has passionate feelings about education."
Both filmmakers are to be congratulated for showing the true heroes, the teachers and the parents. These people cannot go back. This is not something they simply try — they must succeed.
What a huge leap of faith it is for parents to move away from their old guarded pasts. One has the sense that Farrimond is creating an oasis or a 'safe place' for children. Surely these children — despite the religious and political leaders concerns — will be better off.
A Leap of Faith is not given to Pollyanna type notions. Regan acknowledged that the teachers at Cranmore and the other integrated schools in Northern Ireland face huge challenges.
This documentary is specifically "the situation in Northern Ireland" but in our world today, this beautiful story of hope set against hate, stupidity and tradition has a universal appeal.