Our film for INAR (Irish Network Against Racism) was created specifically for cinema with the aim of educating audiences about the reality of racism in Ireland and the appropriate response to it. The film is created using real stories and real footage of racism in Ireland.
Currently 5 out of 6 racist incidents are never reported to the proper authorities, meaning there are no records of them ever having happened. Without reporting the true number of incidents, we can never understand the full scale of racism within Irish society. Now that INAR have launched an app to report and record racist incidents in Ireland we need to show the public the value of reporting racism.
Our idea was to show that by reporting a racist act, you can help make the invisible become visible.
To demonstrate the invisible nature of racism in Ireland, we present the audience with a black screen. The audience is immersed in total darkness and as a result enter a state of sensory deprivation. The voices of victims emerge in different corners of the cinema through the surround sound – reflecting the unseen racism happening all around us in Irish society. They detail their first-hand experiences of racism in Ireland.
We then confront our audience with the message: “Racism only becomes visible when you report it”. We cut to a montage of racist viral videos. The clips multiply in number and escalate in intensity – this is intended to overload the audience and expose them to what racism in Ireland looks like once you make it visible.
