Following on from St. Brigid’s and St. Patrick’s Day festivities, Irish Film and TV UK presents a programme of work at ICA celebrating female voices. The programme consists of a rare chance to see Maeve Murphy’s landmark Troubles drama Silent Grace; the thrilling rediscovery of delightful work by amateur filmmaker Flora Kerrigan, presented by Irish Film Institute in association with Maynooth University; and two films by Aoife Desmond, whose work deals with human relationship with nature and who is emerging as one of Ireland’s most distinctive and vital visual artists. 

Inspired by largely under reported stories of those who took part in Republican dirty protests and hunger strikes while imprisoned in The Armagh Women’s prison in the early 1980s, Silent Grace defies expectations with warmth, humanity and wit. Maeve Murphy’s direction is deft and intimate, while the cast are all superb, notably Orla Brady as the cynical, sharp group leader and Cathleen Bradley as a joy-riding young firebrand suddenly out of her depth when thrown in with prisoners demanding political status. More than 40 years on from events it depicts and 20 years since it was released to acclaim in UK cinemas, Silent Grace remains a powerful and righteous indictment of those on both sides of Northern Ireland’s political divide who sought to exploit the women’s conviction and courage. 

Silent Grace screens alongside Maeve Murphy's latest short film St Pancras Sunrise and will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.