Start Date
End Date
Where
The Kiln Cinema 269 Kilburn High Road London NW6 7JR
Buy Tickets Visit Website
Kiln Cinema are proud to host the UK premiere of the new documentary, Theocracy – The Emigrant’s Artist, followed by a discussion with its subject Bernard Canavan and director Sé Merry Doyle.
Theocracy – The Emigrant’s Artist explores the life and work of Brent-based Irish artist Bernard Canavan, widely known as ‘The Emigrant’s Artist’ for his powerful and evocative depictions of the Irish diaspora, based on his own experiences. His paintings have been exhibited all over Ireland and the UK, including in The Houses of Parliament.
However, this film tells another tale, Bernard’s own personal story: how he was abandoned in 1944, and placed in Saint Patrick’s Guild, later to become known as ‘The House of Shame’, a place which was part of Ireland’s hidden history of institutional abuse. Now in his eighties, Bernard dares to address his own personal story – representative of many others – in a new suite of paintings entitled ‘Theocracy’.
Theocracy – The Emigrant’s Artist speaks volumes for the power of art to offer testimony to subjects many would rather turn away from. We are delighted to be sharing this moving film following its world premiere at the Cork International Film Festival.
Bernard Canavan was born in Dublin in 1944 and emigrated to England in 1959 and worked as a manual labourer. His skill at drawing enabled him to move into work as a graphic artist. In 2017 he was awarded the Distinguised Service Award from President Michael D. Higgins, for his work on emigrant themes particularly the ‘forgotten Irish’ in the UK.
Sé Merry Doyle is an award-winning Irish documentary filmmaker known for his distinctive storytelling and focus on Irish cultural and historical subjects. Some of his previous award-wining documentaries include Patrick Kavanagh: No Man’s Fool, John Ford: Dreaming the Quiet Man, Alive, Alive O – A Requiem for Dublin and Jimmy Murakami: Non-Alien.