Unquiet Graves

Unquiet Graves: The Story of the Glenanne Gang is a 2018 documentary film about The Troubles in Northern Ireland.[1]

Unquiet Graves
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Directed bySeán A. Murray
Produced bySeán A. Murray
Written bySeán A. Murray
StarringChris Patrick-Simpson
Patrick Buchanan
Chris McMahon
Andrew McNeill
Narrated byStephen Rea
Music byDeclan Gallen
CinematographyKevin Treacy
Edited byJohn Phillipson
Production
company
Relapse Pictures
Distributed byJourneyman Pictures
Release date
Running time
75 minutes
CountryNorthern Ireland
LanguageEnglish

Production

Unquiet Graves was filmed in Dolby Surround 7.1 in a 16:9 ratio. The film was based on work by the Pat Finucane Centre, Justice for the Forgotten and Anne Cadwallader's book Lethal Allies.[2] John Weir was a major contributor. Northern Ireland Screen contributed £5,000 to the production. In response to questions about the funding of the film, Murray stated that "The film was a socially committed project and most of the crew who assisted in the making of the film done so on a voluntary basis, including myself."[3]

Synopsis

Unquiet Graves discusses the activities of the Glenanne gang, with the support of Ulster Defence Regiment and Royal Ulster Constabulary, in Northern Ireland's Counties Tyrone and Armagh between 1972 and 1978.[4] They are accused of the murder of 120 Irish Catholic civilians in that period.[5][6]

One of the most notable claims in the film is that the UVF considered carrying out a massacre at a Catholic school in Belleeks in retaliation for the 1976 Kingsmill massacre; supposedly, the idea for the attack came from British military intelligence, who wanted violence in Northern Ireland to "spiral out of control" in order to justify a severe military response, a "short and sharp process of cleansing out the IRA."[7][8]

Release

Unquiet Graves premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh at the Town Hall Theatre on 11 July 2018.[9]

The film had its pre-release premiere in Belfast on 21 February 2019.[7]

The film came to wider public attention when it was aired on the Republic of Ireland state broadcaster, RTÉ One, on 16 September 2020.[10][11]

Reception

Critical response

Writing in The Canary, Peadar O'Cearnaigh said that the Troubles was "seen as a local dispute involving only the Irish. The British were just honest brokers and tried to make peace between these two tribes. That mythical description is put to bed in Unquiet Graves. The documentary sets about uncovering the dangerous and one-sided role played by the British state in the Irish conflict."[12]

Political response

Charles Flanagan, a Fine Gael TD and former Republic of Ireland Minister for Justice and Equality, attacked the film, saying that he "did not believe the documentary was objective, fair minded and balanced and questioned if RTE bosses were aware of how it was funded."[13] In response, Margaret Urwin, Coordinator at Justice for the Forgotten, said that Flanagan "claims the basis of the film was John Weir’s affidavit and claims that his motives were dubious. That is totally erroneous. […] The film is actually based on the book entitled Lethal Allies […] a very important witness in the film was Steve Morris who led a team within the Historical Enquiries Team at the PSNI and he was also a former police officer with the London Met. […] the late Justice Barron who carried out four investigations in the early 2000s on behalf of the [Republic of Ireland] Government found that John Weir’s testimony was credible – as did the Gardaí."[14]

Writing for the The News Letter, Mark Rainey noted that the film's creator Seán A. Murray, was the son of Sean Murray, a longtime republican activist alleged to be a senior figure in the Provisional IRA.[15]

In reply, Murray instructed solicitors and prepared a libel case.[16] Regarding Weir, he wrote that "The independent panel of academic experts and a judge-led Oireachtas inquiry into the 'Glenanne Series' of attacks found corroborating evidence for Weir's testimony in RUC files on no fewer than 11 murders."[17]

References
  1. https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/10/14/news/oscar-nominated-actor-pledges-support-for-documentary-maker-2097078/
  2. Moore, Paul. "Unquiet Graves Is The Documentary Everyone Will Be Talking About Tonight". Balls.ie.
  3. "RTE silent over source of funding for Glenanne killers documentary Unquiet Graves". www.newsletter.co.uk.
  4. "Unquiet Graves". Belfast Film Festival.
  5. "UNQUIET GRAVES (IRISH FOCUS)".
  6. "Unquiet Graves (Documentary Film Screening)".
  7. https://scannain.com/irish/unquiet-graves-premiere-belfast/
  8. Moriarty, Gerry. "British intelligence tried to get UVF to 'shoot up a school', documentary claims". The Irish Times.
  9. https://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2018-gff-programme.pdf
  10. O'Carroll, Sinead. "The Explainer Interview: The story of Unquiet Graves with filmmaker Seán Murray". TheJournal.ie.
  11. Team, Balls. "Viewers Were Blown Away And Furious Watching 'Unquiet Graves' Last Night". Balls.ie.
  12. "Unquiet Graves: a documentary exposing Britain's dirty war in Ireland". The Canary. November 9, 2018.
  13. "Unquiet Graves: TD Charlie Flanagan writes to RTE about 'dubious' documentary on Glenanne Gang" – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  14. Staines, Michael. "Producers of film on Loyalist murder gang slam Flanagan over criticism". Newstalk.
  15. "RTE defends Unquiet Graves decision amid mounting criticism". www.newsletter.co.uk.
  16. News, Irish Legal. "NI: Documentary filmmaker instructs Ó Muirigh Solicitors over 'smear campaign'". Irish Legal News.
  17. "Director responds to 'Unquiet Graves' criticism". independent.
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