Imagine an island. Within this island there is another island. And within this other island there is a city: a city with two different names. Inside this city with two names, flows a river.
This is its autobiography.
Is the story of a river able to reveal a sense of life imprisoned by history? Despite the end of the conflict, in Northern Ireland there is still a city with two different names: Derry, for Catholics, Londonderry for Protestants. In the middle of the city, flows the river Foyle, which separates them and at the same time act as their border: from 1969, when the most recent Northern Irish conflict started, most of the Protestants residents moved out of the area in fear of intimidation and sectarian violence.
The film, narrated from the point of view of the river itself, through dreamlike sequences and archive material made by ordinary people in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s – invites us to discover its story through the voice of the river: how was this liquid wall seen, heard, and experienced by the lives of those it passed on its long run to the ocean? What could it tell us? What does it know about us? Visually moving between past and present times, the River Foyle invites us to reflect on issues that are going beyond its own borders - what is a border? Are the dreams of those who lived before the conflict different from those dreamed today? And above all, what happened to our dreams?
Director: Alessandro Negrini
Exectuvive Producer: William Silke
Associate Producers: Docucity, Jill Tellez, Basaglia Group
DOP: Oddgeir Saether
