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NOW in its 28th year, ‘Cannes on the Corrib’ aka the Galway Film Fleadh is happening this week. One of the many films screening is Borderland, an investigation into the EU policies that contribute to the refugee crisis by a pair of Irish filmakers.
Co-director Paul Webster spoke to me about the documentary and his previous film, Let Those Blues In, the extraordinary story of Navan harmonica player Paddy Smith’s journey through prison and alcoholism to recovery with the help of his music…
Q. What drew you to the story of Paddy Smith?
The producer of the film, Shay Casserley, is a childhood friend of Paddy’s and they had been shooting a lot together before I came on board. The first thing that struck me was Paddy’s talent, he’s an incredible harmonica player. Then, when I started hearing the stories about how he ended up in prison in America and his journey to recovery, I knew there was an amazing story here. I’ve always been fascinated by the power of music and the different ways it can be used to help people.
This was the perfect story with which to explore this idea.
After filming finished on our various shoot days, Paddy would get us to drop him off at places where he was going to meet people that he was helping with alcoholism and I thought this was really special. Paddy is someone who ended up in some very dark places, but was able to turn himself around. He sets a great example and as he says himself, “If I can do it, anyone can.”
Q. What is your background as a filmmaker? What documentary or director would you describe as a foremost influence?
I’ve been making films since I was 15 and studied Film & TV in Galway. I’ve been working as a freelance director of both documentary and drama for the last five years. I’m obsessed with discovering great documentaries and two of my heroes would be Alex Gibney (Enron, The Armstrong Lie, Going Clear) and Kevin Macdonald (One Day In September, The Last King Of Scotland) who has been able to work consistently in both documentary and drama, which is an aspiration of mine.
Q. Sometimes as artists or filmmakers we make sense of things in our own lives through our work. Do you think that would apply to you at this stage?
I’d like to think that when I look back at the films I’ve made, I’ll be able to point to each film and say I was exploring a theme or an idea that was really important to me at that time in my life. So far, I am able to say this is true and that’s a good feeling. For example I’ve recently gotten more involved in activism and my latest film reflects this.
Q. How did Borderland come about?
In January, my co-director, Conor Maguire, came to me with the idea of doing something about the refugee crisis that was unfolding in Greece at the time. Both of us had been following the situation online and we felt compelled to go there and find out what was really going on. We were very grateful to crowd-fund enough money for us to get there and we arrived in Lesvos in March 2016. This was just before the EU-Turkey deal to end irregular migration in the Mediterranean came in to being.
Q. What was the most memorable scene, story or individual you came across while filming?
It was funny, when we were there, Angelina Jolie was also on the island. When someone like that comes, the international media follow, so there were plenty of cameras around. There was a lot of mistrust of the media there, but when people realised we were independent and weren’t being exploitative, they started to open up to us and it was incredible. On one hand, we saw the best parts of humanity, seeing volunteers who had given up their jobs to come and help, refugees who had nothing offering to share their lunch with us when we were filming, locals bringing trucks of food and supplies to the camps. And on the other hand, we saw the worst parts of humanity, the cruel systems that imprisoned people who are fleeing unimaginably desperate situations.
Q. It’s interesting that you decided not to dwell on harrowing footage of migrants suffering hardship but rather let those who know a lot about the situation speak passionately on what Colm O’Gorman of Amnesty calls the ‘abject failure of the system of government and law’ to do their actual job and create a decent response to the crisis. How calculated was that decision?
At this stage, most people are fairly familiar with the images of the crisis, from places like Lesvos and Idomeni in Greece. But we wanted to lift the lid on the policies that are shaping the crisis and to provide a compelling argument against the political measures that are causing so much hardship.
Q. The end flashes on movements of people power in the past that have changed things for the better. Do you see the film as a call to action?
Volunteers, cameramen, journalists, aid workers, everyone who travels to Lesvos or works with refugees can’t help but be changed by what they see and hear there. When we came back and started telling our stories to friends, family, anyone who would listen, I noticed that it really moved them and people who would not normally pay attention to these issues, took it on themselves to be informed about what was being done in their name. With the film, we wanted to magnify this feeling and spread it further. And as Colm O’Gorman says in the film, “The only way that things change, real change, is when ordinary people demand that they change, to any human rights catastrophe or to any major social injustice issue, it comes from the level of the street, from ordinary people.”
Q. How do you view the current state of documentary making and film funding in Ireland? I believe you used a crowdfunding campaign for Borderland?
Support for short filmmaking in Ireland has started to grow again in Ireland, which is really important as shorts offer an essential chance for emerging talent to prove themselves. However, this is mainly for drama projects. At the moment, there aren’t as many funding opportunities for new documentary filmmakers and so many short documentary makers are relying on crowdfunding. At the feature level, there have been some amazing feature docs coming out of Ireland in the last few years. In particular, I was blown away by Risteard Ó Domhnaill’s new documentary Atlantic and really loved Conor Horgan’s The Queen Of Ireland.
Q. Do you have a topic in mind yet for your next film?
My next short doc is about Ireland’s first vasectomy doctor, a man who as GP took a stand against the government, protesting against the archaic laws on condoms in the eighties and later survived being shot by a former vasectomy patient. I’m also currently directing a documentary TV programme that explores the connection between sport and science.
Borderland will premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh this Friday 8th of July.
You can catch Let Those Blues In currently on the RTE Player.
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