The IFTA winning documentary by Ross Whitaker and Aideen O’Sullivan “When Ali Came to Ireland” has its UK Premiere tonight Monday the 10th of June in London.
The film is screening as part of the London Archive Film Festival at 7:30 in The Cinema Museum, 2 Dugard Way (off Renfrew Road), London SE11 4TH. If you are based in London please do try and come along. Ross and Aideen will be in attendance. You can buy tickets online in advance from here
ABOUT THE FILM
From the makers of HOME TURF (*Official Selection* Hot Docs 2012) and BYE BYE NOW (*Winner* Silverdocs, Nashville 2011), WHEN ALI CAME TO IRELAND captures the madcap week when legendary boxer Muhammad Ali went to fight in Ireland at the height of his career.
Self proclaimed ‘World’s Strongest Publican’ Michael ‘Butty’ Sugrue pulled off a massive sporting coup in 1972 when he convinced Ali’s promoter that he was good for the $300k down-payment required to bring Ali to Ireland and then largely paid for proceedings in beer-stained bank notes.
The trip had a huge impact on those Ali met and, some say, on the man himself. The documentary reveals that his trip to Ireland influenced how Ali viewed white people in the aftermath of his conversion to Islam and his declarations that white people were devils.
The documentary by Ross Whitaker and Aideen O’Sullivan combines a wealth of archival material with colourful reminiscences to tell an unlikely tale that is infused with great warmth and moments of real hilarity. (Photo courtesy of The Irish Post)
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The London Archive Film Festival 2013 in association with FOCAL International, is an annual celebration of the use of archival footage in the creative media organised by archivist, Alison Mercer. The inspiration for the Festival came from the FOCAL International Awards which teasingly show clips from the nominated films and leave the audience wanting to see more.
Many of the films submitted for these awards never get a showing in the UK. The London Archive Film Festival aims to change this and celebrate the seldom seen work that is coming out of Europe and further afield.
John Murphy 