Free Thinking - Michael Grigsby

Arts & Ideas

BBC

Society & Culture

4.2 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2013

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the second of 2 programmes from Derry Londonderry Radio 3's Matthew Sweet examines the work and legacy of director Michael Grigsby, who died earlier this year, and who made a trilogy of films in Ulster. In the first two, Too Long A Sacrifice and The Silent War, he invited people to talk about how The Troubles had impacted on their lives. Matthew Sweet is joined by two film-makers who worked closely with Michael Grigsby, Rebekah Tolley and John Furse, to pay tribute to his work. This event was recorded at the Playhouse Theatre in Derry-Londonderry, this year's UK City of Culture.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, it's a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps
0:21.2	that it's a long time ago, right? It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream
0:26.1	van plays music when it's out of ice cream. Listen to evil genius on BBC sounds.
0:32.1	This is a download from the BBC. For more information and our terms of use, go to BBC.co.uk slash radio three.
0:40.9	Michael Grigsby was never a household name, even in some households where television is taken very seriously.
0:47.6	But this is one of the reasons why he was one of the greatest documentary filmmakers these islands have yet produced, a man who listened to people
0:56.1	and let them tell their stories in their own words. He listened to American soldiers back from
1:01.8	Vietnam, to the residents of Lockerby after the disaster, to traw the men and to Inuit.
1:08.2	And over the course of the decades, to what you could call a community of
1:11.7	interviewees in Northern Ireland, the men and women and families who were the subjects of his
1:16.6	trilogy of films made in Ulster, too long a sacrifice, a silent war and rehearsals.
1:23.2	Mike Grigsby died very unexpectedly in March, a shock to those who knew him and to those who admired his work.
1:29.9	So we're all here at the Derry Playhouse to celebrate that work with two collaborators who knew him well.
1:36.1	Before I introduce them to you, let's hear a moment from one of his films.
1:41.5	The conflict here is looked upon by outsiders as being a religious war.
1:47.0	It's not really a religious war as such.
1:51.0	It's really a war between those who have and those who have not.
1:56.0	And unfortunately, the people who have, i.e., the Protestants, especially among the working class,
2:05.7	they're in exactly the same situation, really, as the Catholic working class.
2:12.7	Their lifestyle is no different.
2:16.1	A lot of them are looking for work.
2:18.3	A lot of them are living in bad housing,
	...

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