The Bannfoot Ferry

Director:

Colm Laverty

Producer(s):

Will McConnell

Footage Archive Producer:

Colm Laverty

Archival Sources:

Ulster Television

Production Company:

UTV / Northern Ireland Screen

Country of Production:

United Kingdom

Original Release:

2025

Synopsis

Colm Laverty's short documentary "The Bannfoot Ferry" brings to light a forgotten piece of Northern Ireland's television heritage. Drawing on extensive materials from Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive, this documentary examines the early years of an independent TV station and how it shaped society in Ulster.

The film focuses on "Boatman, Do Not Tarry," a 1967 UTV production filmed near Laverty's hometown of Maghery on Lough Neagh's shore. This groundbreaking drama was the first locally-made television production ever broadcast on the ITV network. What makes "Boatman" particularly notable is its scale, creative vision and how it foreshadowed many of the political and social conflicts that would emerge during The Troubles, which erupted just months after the show aired.

Though "Boatman" represented a landmark achievement in early regional television and featured some of Ulster's most talented performers, the drama has largely disappeared from public memory, barely seen in over half a century.

Through a creative blend of archive footage and conversations with locals, archivists, and historians, the documentary reveals striking connections between the world portrayed in "Boatman" and the issues facing Northern Ireland today.

Free As A Bird: A Song Reborn

Director:

Oliver Murray

Producer(s):

Jonathan Clyde / Sophie Hilton / Celia Moore

Footage Archive Researcher:

Chris Purkiss

Photo Archive Researcher:

Dorcas Lynn

Archival Sources:

Apple Corps Ltd

Production Company:

Apple Corps Ltd

Country of Production:

United Kingdom

Original Release:

2025

Synopsis

Celebrating the making of a modern Beatles classic and the return of The Beatles Anthology, “A Song Reborn” reveals the extraordinary 1994 reunion of Paul, George and Ringo, 24 years after The Beatles parted ways. A true collaboration became possible when Yoko Ono handed them an unfinished John Lennon composition. Crafted from never-before-seen studio footage shot by the band themselves, this short film captures the three Beatles rediscovering their bond as they shape John’s song into the GRAMMY-winning “Free As A Bird.”

Ghosts

Director:

Katia Lom

Producer(s):

Katia Lom

Footage Archive Producer:

Katia Lom

Archival Sources:

National Archives and Rercords Administration (NARA) / United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Country of Production:

United Kingdom

Original Release:

2025

Synopsis

Memories are with us. They stand as objects from the past holding us in the moment. We are unable to escape them despite the passing of time. As we attempt to elude history our memories always return and exist as truths in the now. 

The English poet Laurence Binyon poignantly evoked about the fallen of WWI: “Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn…We will remember them.” These words are today often used to pay tribute to the casualties of war, and in this vain Ghosts seeks to bring back the lives lost to armed conflict to remember them.

Using a combination of footage shot with an actor on 16mm and original historical 16mm and 35mm archive reels, the film looks to blur the lines between past and present. We may choose to look away from the truth, but the facts will always stand still before us. They are there holding our gaze to account.

Song of My City

Director:

David C. Roberts

Producer(s):

David C. Roberts

Footage Archive Researcher:

Jeremy Fisher

Footage Archive Producer:

John Sears

Archival Sources:

Extracted from commercially released feature films and documentaries shot on location in New York City, primarily from the 1970s, sourced from legally obtained home media and broadcast materials. Footage drawn from multiple rights-holders and studio

Production Company:

Erddigo

Country of Production:

United States

Original Release:

2025

Synopsis

A portrait of 1970s New York, pieced together from 40 movies that mythologized it. Built from the B-roll of these films, this city symphony summons the NY the filmmaker first knew only on screen.