Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland

Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland is a 5-part documentary series from director James Bluemel on the Troubles in Northern Ireland that is available to watch on PBS and BBC. A short¹ trailer is above.

"Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland" weaves together the personal stories of ordinary men, women and children who were drawn — both willingly and unwillingly — into a conflict that spanned over thirty years. The series mixes extraordinary archive footage and emotionally compelling first-person testimonies to create an intimate, multi-generational portrait of Northern Ireland's past, present and future with an emphasis on understanding and empathy for all points of view.

I've heard really good things about this series and, after recently reading Patrick Radden Keefe's excellent Say Nothing, I'm looking forward to watching this. Bluemel even interviewed Michael McConville, whose mother's disappearance forms the backbone of Keefe's book:

Michael McConville remembering the day his mother, Jean, was taken away and murdered by the IRA felt like an important historical story to include in the series. The IRA denied murdering her for over 30 years and they only revealed the whereabouts of her body in 2006. The trauma of this event on Michael is evident, not just in the way he talks but also the way he holds himself, his body displays the pain he feels. The trauma of those years can be consuming and was present in nearly everyone I interviewed.

Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland is available to stream on PBS and BBC sites and apps. (via @overholt)

I embedded the BBC trailer rather than the PBS one because it was a little longer. I wish PBS made longer trailers for their series...how do you even begin to tease something like a five-hour documentary on the Troubles or a six-hour series on the Holocaust with 30- and 60-second trailers? If you give people more of an idea of what the series is like, you might convince more people to watch.↩