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A new film exploring local singers and songs from the Inishowen region of North Donegal, utilising materials from ITMA’s collections, will premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh on 15 July, 2023.
It’s a Fine Thing to Sing is the debut feature documentary from director Bob Gallagher. The film explores 40 years of local singers and songs from Inishowen, and features new performances from artists Ian Lynch (Lankum), Ye Vagabonds and The Henry Girls, who were invited to create their own interpretations of songs from the Inishowen Song Project, a collaborative project between the Inishowen Traditional Singers’ Circle (ITSC) and the Irish Traditional Music Archive published in 2013. The film also utilises atmospheric archival recordings and interviews with key community figures to demonstrate how songs pass from singer to singer, while also asking the question of why we sing.
ITMA would like to congratulate Bob Gallagher, Grace Toland, Brian Doyle, and all involved in the film, which is a great example of utilising archived sources to capture the living tradition.
The film will play in the Galway Film Fleadh on Saturday 15th July, 15:30 at Pálás Screen 1.
It’s a Fine Thing to Sing Trailer from Bob Gallagher on Vimeo.
