Films with: McCourt, Emer

House of Bernarda Alba

Set in rural Spain at the turn of this century, the scene is a cloistered household managed by a newly widowed mother of five daughters. Under the shadow of the church and the tyranny bred from a need to protect the reputation of the family, the matron (Bernarda Alba) represses her daughters by enforcing an eight year mourning period. The tensions build rapidly among the imprisoned women, with a demented grandmother playing a role resembling that of a Greek chorus. Eventually, the natural spirits of the daughters circumvent Bernarda, but with tragic results.

DVD 3927

Hush-a-bye baby

Portrays four 15-year old girls growing up in the Catholic community of Derry in 1984, at the time of the 'supergrass' trials and in the wake of an abortion referendum in Ireland. The girls attempt to come to grips with their sexuality in an oppressive and confusing environment, and one of them becomes pregnant by her boyfriend with whom she is unable to communicate because he is imprisoned and her letter to him is rejected by prison authorities because it is written in Irish. She becomes deeply affected by thoughts of abortion and recurring images of the Virgin Mary.

DVD 6223