Two-part documentary series ‘Revolution in Colour’ has been acquired by British Pathé, who plan to turn the series into a 90 minute feature film before releasing the film internationally on their new video on demand television channel.
Produced by Zampano Productions, ‘Revolution in Colour’ is an exclusively archive-based series that features black and white newsreel footage and photographs that have been restored and colourised. The producer, Martin Dwan, worked with West Wing Studios, the team behind the BAFTA nominated WW2 in HD Colour, to deliver a series, which he believes creates a “powerful emotional connection with the people, the personalities, and the past”.
The series is narrated by Declan Conlon. It features an original score composed by Eanan Patterson, was edited by Kevin Cooney, and the dubbing mix was performed by Killian Fitzgerald of Avatar Post.
Speaking about the series, British Pathé Chief Executive Roger Felber said: “To see the colourised footage is a remarkable experience which we plan to bring to millions around the world.” The distributor also plans to release the film on Google’s Chromecast platform in time to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising.
Written by historian, Professor Eunan O’Halpin, the first installment of this TV3/BAI commissioned series, examines the years leading up to British general election of 1918. The period was defined by the demand for Home Rule, the gradual radicalisation of Nationalists and Unionists, the outbreak of the Great War, the Easter Rising, and the conscription crisis, ending with the incredible success of Sinn Fein in the 1918 general election. The turmoil in Europe is also weaved into the narrative.
The second installment examines the years after the Great War up to the end of the Civil War in 1923. Sinn Fein’s remarkable 1918 electoral triumph saw its elected members, not in jail or on the run, assemble at the Mansion House in Dublin in January 1919. There they declared an Irish Republic. That same day two policemen of the Royal Irish Constabulary were killed in an IRA ambush in Tipperary. The Irish War of Independence had begun. Over the following two and a half years the poorly resourced Irish Republican Army took on the might of the British Empire, whilst in the North, Unionists plotted for the partition of the island and consolidated their power.
