A NEW short film follows a top Belfast photographer as he continues his 25-year journey documenting the peace walls of the city that have divided working class communities for more than 50 years.
'Good Fences?' looks at the walls through the eyes of Frankie Quinn, who lives in the Short Strand just yards away from the infamous Bryson Street peace wall that stands where his childhood home once did after him and his family were put out in 1970.
He started taking photos in 1994.
The film also calls into question other walls from Palestine to Mexico being used to segregate and maintain power. It echoes Robert Frost's 'Mending Wall' question – do good fences really make good neighbours? – and imagines the potential for transformation through Frankie's effort to show the common humanity on both sides of the walls.
Shot and directed during three weeks of the marching season in 2019 by Chicago filmmaker Tom Callahan, Good Fences? also relies on the extensive photo collection of the Belfast Archive Project to illuminate the progression of the peace walls since 1969, including work by Gerry Collins, Bill Kirk, John White and Hugh McKewon, amongst others.
The film debuted at Docs Ireland in 2022, was shown at the Achill Island International Film Festival in May and is set to screen at the Boyne Valley International Film Festival this August.
Tom collaborated with Frankie and Pittsburgh-based musician Eli Namay on the original score and with Belfast filmmaker Sam Howard for story support. Support Frankie's family and generous film contributions from Marilyn Hyndman (RIP) from Northern Visions TV, Connor McKernan, the Department of Justice NI, and Sinead Neill helped bring the story to life.
