Atlantic
Director: Risteard Ó Dómhnaill
Talent: Brendan Gleeson, Charlie Kane, Jerry Early, Bjornar Nicolaisen
Released: April 29th
Narrated by Brendan Gleeson, Risteard Ó Dómhnaill’s documentary takes as its subject three North Atlantic communities – Newfoundland, sub-Arctic Norway and the west of Ireland – facing huge challenges as corporate interests vie for control of the ocean’s resources of fish, oil and gas. Unfortunately for us, the former two communities tend to serve as an example of what Ireland ought to have done to defend its own interests and those of its small fishermen and seaside communities in the past 40 or so years. Kowtowing to unreasonable EU fishing directives and the relinquishment of a national stake in gas reserves stand out as two glaring errors, contrasting with Norway’s self-sufficiency and Newfoundland’s hard-won share in private, offshore oil drilling. Meanwhile, the two foreign communities are not without their own problems, namely oil rigs’ noise pollution threatening marine life and overfishing respectively. Ó Dómhnaill’s film is about as formally straight a documentary as you’re likely to see, but the information it contains is fascinating, timely and hopefully instructive.
Words: Oisín Murphy-Hall
