Re-Imagining Ireland
AT A GLANCE

Feed Date: October 31, 2004, American Public Television (APT)

Produced By: Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH)
& Paul Wagner Productions,
in Association with
Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)

Presenting Station: South Carolina ETV

Production Credits:
Producer-Director: Andrew Wyndham
Writers: Andrew Wyndham & Susan Bacik
Editor: Neil Means
Senior Producer: Paul Wagner
Associate Producers: Susan Bacik & Ellen Casey Wagner
RTÉ Consulting Producer: David McKenna
Narrator: Frank McCourt
Interviews: Paul Wagner & David McKenna
Videography: Neil Means, Richard Drumm, & Brian Moratto
Sound Recording: Ben Clore
Audio Support: Sarah McConnell & Sean Tubbs
Archival Research: Niamh Ni Churnain

Program: Focused on what it means to be Irish in the 21st century this lively documentary is narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt. Among the topics covered are rapid social, cultural and political change in Ireland, the world’s most globalized economy; religious and political conflict in Ireland and the workings of the peace process; and the human struggle to come to terms with cultural difference, encouraging acceptance and tolerance. Re-Imagining Ireland moves beyond stereotypical views of what Ireland and the Irish have to say to the world.

Featured: Re-Imagining Ireland features 34 prominent and articulate Irish personalities in literature, politics, social activism, and the arts, including such luminaries as Ireland’s President, Mary McAleese; internationally known novelist and screenwriter Roddy Doyle; acclaimed writer Colm Toibin; award-winning journalists and authors Susan McKay and Fintan O’Toole; Northern Ireland Unionist politician David Ervine, and Northern Ireland’s Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan. Among many other engaging speakers: Abel Ugba, Nigerian founding editor of a weekly Dublin newspaper; Irish “Traveller” (or “gypsy”) leader, Catherine Joyce; and renowned musician and folklorist Mick Moloney.

Other Highlights: The show features a variety of musical excerpts from dazzling performances by such leading groups as Solas, Cherish the Ladies, the Green Fields of America and De Dannan, as well as individual world-class musicians – among them, Martin Hayes, Andy Irvine, and Tommy Sands. The program was planned in association with Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ, which provided a wealth of outstanding current affairs and historical visuals from its TV Archive.

Roster of Commentators: Featured interviewees in order of appearance are: Frank McCourt, Martin Hayes, Theo Dorgan, Fintan O’Toole, Mary Corcoran, Roddy Doyle, Abel Ugba, William Binchy, Roy Foster, Lenwood Sloan, Martin McLoone, Angela Bourke, Mick Moloney, David Ervine, Declan McGonagle, Inez McCormack, Ciaran Carson, Nuala O’Loan, Susan McKay, Niall O’Dowd, Liz O’Donnell, Ronit Lentin, Ivana Bacik, Colm Toibin, Alan Gilsenan, Sr. Margaret Mac Curtain, Gerard Stembridge, Ireland’s President Mary McAleese, Catherine Joyce, Paula Meehan, and Rory O’Donnell.
Visit http://www.re-imagining-ireland.org/guests/Default.asp for bios.

Performers: Musicians and performance artists appearing in the program are: Martin Hayes; Solas; The Green Fields of America, with dancers Amy Fenton-Shine, Cara Butler, and Donny Golden; Frankie Gavin and De Dannan, with Narin and Twomby; Tommy Sands; Cherish the Ladies; and Andy Irvine, with Rens van der Zalm and Bruce Molsky. Also appearing: Cathal O Searcaigh, reading verse in Irish, and actors/comedians Conor Grimes & Alan McKee.
Visit http://www.re-imagining-ireland.org/events/default.asp for more information.

Production Who’s Who: Executive Produced and Directed by Andrew Wyndham, Director of Media Programs at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH).
Re-Imagining Ireland interviews and arts footage were filmed at a groundbreaking conference and festival by the same name, which Wyndham also organized. The production shoot was planned and interviews conducted by Senior Producer and Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Paul Wagner (The Stone Carvers, Out of Ireland), with principal cinematographer Neil Means, and RTÉ Executive Director of Arts and Music TV Features David McKenna. Wyndham and visual artist Susan Bacik, a former producer with KTCA, are co-writers. Bacik collaborated with Wyndham to structure the program and complete production. The project Editor is Neil Means, who has worked extensively with filmmakers Wagner and Ross Spears, among others. The Associate producers were Bacik and Ellen Casey Wagner, formerly a Producer with WETA and now Executive Producer for Paul Wagner Productions and American Focus; David McKenna was Consulting Producer/Director; and RTÉ’s Niamh Ni Churnain conducted Archival Research.

Website: www.re-imagining-ireland.org Features extensive background information on modern Ireland as explored at the international conference and festival on which the film was based. The site will shortly include a 30-second promo for the film. A web-book – a compilation of statements by the more than100 featured speakers at the conference – will be available in the fall of 2004.

Major Funding:
Anne Lee Ueltschi Foundation
French American Charitable Trust
Office of the President, University of Virginia

Additional Funding:
The American Ireland Fund
Delta Air Lines
National Endowment for the Humanities
Rosenstiel Foundation

Andrew Higgins Wyndham
Re-Imagining Ireland Executive Producer
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
Voice: 434-924-6894
Fax: 434-296-4714
E-mail: awyndham@virginia.edu

Catherine Christman,
Vice President for Communications
South Carolina ETV
Voice: 803-737-3259
Fax: 803-737-3417
E-mail:christman@scetv.org

Full Press Release / Fact Sheet / Downloadable Promo