New film by Irish language group aims to change perceptions of loyalist bands
A NEW film focusing on the human stories behind loyalist bands — which has been produced by Irish language and cultural organisation Culturlann — will be premiered in Londonderry tonight.
Set against the backdrop of the Relief of Derry parade, ‘For the Love of Bands’ focuses on stories of dedication, passion, commitment and community that happen quietly behind the scenes and when the drums fall silent.
Produced by the Droichead Project, the film will be shown at Culturlann Ui Chanain tonight at 7pm.
Catherine Pollock, who works at An Culturlann and produced the film, says she has been going to parades all her life and never found her own story reported in the media, rather the contentious issues that grabbed the headlines.
“I’m from the unionist community,” she said. “I’ve never been in a band, I’ve never been in a loyal order and for me there was a part of the story that people weren’t seeing.
“I remember packing up the car with lovely picnics and going to a town or a village somewhere and having my granny with me. It was getting out and meeting people and a kind of carnival, celebratory atmosphere.
“It was all these beautiful gardens with gazebos up and maybe you needed to use the loo and some woman would let you into her immaculate bathroom and then she would hand you a bun on the way out the door.
“And outside of the bands, there would have been people I knew who would have fundraised and made uniforms and who fixed them and bannerettes.
“One of my favourite memories is about two women, Marie and Lily, who set up tables outside their houses on Irish Street every August 12 and provided water to tens of thousands of marchers for over 40 years. And they did that themselves.
“As a child, my brother and I would run between the ranks of the bands handing out Marie and Lily’s water. We felt like we were doing such an important job.
“But if you are not part of that scene, if you do not attend the 12th of August parade, you never hear those stories. So the film really is about giving exposure to those people who just quietly contribute and who dedicate them- selves to it every year. It’s about the people who make it about families and about communities.”
Catherine said that she hopes the film will go some way to change perceptions.
“The film was made as a way of highlighting and appreciating the support bands get from within their families and communities and as an educational resource to inform people about the unseen aspects of a culture that is often maligned and misrepresented,” she said.