Cinema and Northern Ireland : film, culture and politics

John Hill's groundbreaking study is the first book to focus solely on the cinema from and about Northern Ireland.

Hill's comprehensive account, based on detailed archival research, traces the history of film production in Northern Ireland from the beginnings of a local film industry in the 1920s and 1930s, when the first Northern Irish 'quota quickies' were made, through the propaganda films of the 1940s and 1950s and on to the cinema of the 'Troubles'.

Hill carefully examines the relationship between films and the political tensions within Northern Ireland, identifying the ways in which films have both reinforced and challenged social divisions.

He considers the moral and religious controversies that have surrounded cinema in the North and describes the political censorship of films held to be seditious such as "Ourselves Alone" and "The Plough and the Stars".

He assesses the role of filmmaking in Northern Ireland during and after the Second World War and considers how Northern Ireland's relationship with Britain and the rest of Ireland figured in feature films such as "Odd Man Out", as well as in government propaganda films and informational shorts. He also traces the controversies surrounding the history of government policy in Northern Ireland and assesses the cultural and industrial impact this has had on local film.

He then turns his attention to how the cinema has represented the Troubles.

Tracing the history of Troubles cinema as it proceeds through the height of the conflict and into the 'peace process', Hill provides a fresh perspective on a variety of films, ranging from "Resurrection Man" and "The Boxer to Divorcing Jack" and "Mad about Mambo".

Both original and authoritative, "Cinema and Northern Ireland" is destined to become the standard work on the subject.