Guth Gafa is delighted to have Irish Film Blood Fruit as our closing film for the festival this year. The screening will take place at Kells Theatre on Sunday November 2nd at 7.30PM.
Thirty years ago, a small group of young workers from Dunnes Stores in Henry Street, went out on strike in support of a colleague who had refused to handle South African fruit.
They knew little or nothing about apartheid but this was only the beginning of a journey that would propel them onto an international stage.
The film, directed by Sinead O’Brien, traces the strike from its beginnings when the strikers thought it would be over in days or weeks through the long months and years that followed, during which time it became the focus of world attention as a key battleground in the war against apartheid.
She travels on an emotional journey with the group to South Africa for the funeral of the Nelson Mandela who had told them that they had inspired millions of South Africans.
Archbishop Tutu described the strikers’ stance as a beacon of hope during dark days and said that they were “part of the history of South Africa’s struggle for freedom”.
The result of the strike was that Ireland became the first country in the western world to legislate for a complete ban on the importation of South African goods.
Director Sinead O’Brien and some of the strikers will be present for the screening, which will be followed by a closing reception, supported by TG4, at the Headfort Arms Hotel, Kells.
