Acclaimed filmmaker and TCFF Board Member
Mark Cousins (“The Story of Film”) has taken
his love and concern for his Irish hometown of
Belfast and transformed it into a masterwork of
cinema that will shake you to your core. Cousins
walked every street of the Northern Ireland capital
to create this transcendent sensory journey
that captures the essence of Belfast’s rich, often
tragic history, and its complex, proud modern
day resurrection. He imagines Belfast as a woman
(played by veteran actress Helena Bereen):
poised and gently weathered with age, her golden
hair swept up into a neat bun, her voice melodic
and steady. Cousins narrates an emotional
journey while the camera reveals unexpected,
colorful beauty around every corner. The result
is a wonderfully inventive and moving mosaic, a
refreshingly uncynical meditation that ends with
a brilliant stroke of hopeful genius, bringing one
of the world’s great cities to mesmerizing, unforgettable
life.
In Person: Director Mark Cousins.