Irish/Lithuanian documentary ‘Book Smugglers’ is to be broadcast on BB2 NI on September 4th at 21.00pm and on TG4 on September 21st at 21.30pm.
Written and directed by Jeremiah Cullinane, the feature length documentary follows poet Gearóid Mac Lochlainn and Lithuanian dramatist Albertas Vidžiūnas as they retrace the steps of the 19th century Lithuanian book smugglers who resisted Russification to save their language from extinction. The documentary questions why, at the same time in Ireland, families were abandoning their Gaelic tongue and teaching their children English.
Producers on the documentary are Rasa Miškinytė for Era Film, Bartolomeo Dibenedetto and Jeremiah Cullinane for Planet Korda Pictures and David Rane for Vinegar Hill.
The film was shot in Lithuania in 2010 on HD. Director of Photography was Audrius Kemežys. The documentary has previously screened festivals including the Chicago Irish Film Festival, the Cape Winelands Film Festival in South Africa, Belfast Film Festival and Guth Gafa International Documentary Festival.
The production received support form the Irish Language Broadcast Fund (ILBF), BAI and MEDIA.
To view the trailer for ‘Book Smugglers’, please click here.
