As If There Were Trees
Directed by Gary McKendry
Written by Gary McKendry and Colum McCann
Starring Bernadette Brown, Nathan Quinn O’Rawe,
and Ignacy Rybarczyk
A Belfast housing project simmers with resentment at the recent influx of Polish immigrants. But Iris is too busy to play “them and us.” She pulls pints and struggles to raise her nephew’s baby. Jamie has turned to drugs and lost his job after his ex Anna went back to Poland. Now Anna wants her baby back. Jamie vents his rage on the Poles he once worked with and Iris must choose a side as her family is ripped apart.
This film came from a gut punch. While scouting in rural America I took a break in a coffee shop. As I was leaving a local called after me, “And keep on walking back to whatever shithole country you come from.” It was a shock. I’d almost forgotten I was an immigrant. But my accent marked me as an outsider. I was “them” and he and everybody else in the shop was “us”. I was reminded of a short story by Colum McCann called As If There Were Trees. It was a story I had to tell. Because I knew both sides. I grew up in the same kind of project the story was set in. I understood the fears of the locals. But I also connected with the desperation and isolation of the Poles, because I am an immigrant too. We shot the film in an area of North Belfast where things have been tough for a long time. That meant our production had to keep a small footprint. But a small crew, hand-held camera and tiny lighting package resulted in the authentic look that reveals the truth at the heart of the story. It was great to collaborate with Colum McCann again. And my fantastic Northern Irish crew were totally committed to the film.
