We spoke with director Aoife Kelleher about her latest documentary Mrs. Robinson, capturing the life and work of former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson.
Mrs. Robinson tells Mary’s story, in her own words, for the very first time - illuminating battles for justice and equality over half a century; on the streets, in the courts, at the ballot box, and in backroom corridors of power. The film is now on general release across Ireland from Break Out Pictures.
A reforming constitutional lawyer and senator in her early career, Mary Robinson detonated an electoral earthquake by winning the Irish Presidential vote in 1990. Later, as a crusading UN High Commissioner, she built a lasting legacy; fearlessly challenging perpetrators of human rights abuses all over the world. To this day, she exerts power and leadership as the Chair of The Elders; the independent group of global leaders (founded by Nelson Mandela) who work for peace, justice, and human rights. As an influential global voice, Mary Robinson is also spearheading Project Dandelion: a women-led climate justice campaign.
We caught up with filmmaker Aoife Kelleher (One Million Dubliners) to discuss the new documentary.
IFTN: I'm sure this was a special film to make because of the person you got to document and how significant she is to Irish life. In July you brought the film to Galway for its Irish premiere. Can you tell me about the experience of finally getting to showcase it to an audience?
Aoife: "The Galway screening was really very special. Obviously, the West of Ireland, is so intrinsically linked to Mary. And it's so bound up in her story and really defined and formed her as a person, so it have it out in the west was really successful and I know it meant a huge amount to her. The extent of the audience response in Galway
was really wonderful. To be able to hear all of the laughter and emotion throughout, there's always, there's always a bit of trepidation before a screening like that, but it was a really lovely experience."
IFTN: How exactly did you first meet Mary. How did the opportunity to direct this come about?
Aoife: "So first of all, I was approached by the producer, Cormac Hargaden. Cormac and I had never worked together before, but of course, I would have known about Loosehorse and the work that they've done and their reputation.
Cormac approached me about about making a documentary with Mary and the first phase would have been to pitch the documentary to her. The idea of directing a documentary about her was very appealing. Just thinking about her really brought me back to that moment in 1990. I would've been in primary school, and would have felt that it was a real moment, even then, where a lot of new opportunities, a lot of new things really felt possible in Irish society.
There was a sense that political life up to that point had really been the preserve of a very specific kind of person, and for the most part, a very specific kind of man. Suddenly you had girls in my class, other eight year olds, talking about becoming lawyers, becoming senators, becoming presidents. Something about capturing that felt really appealing."
IFTN: As a filmmaker, how did you approach the story of one of Ireland's most prominent figures, who had such an impact on society, and building a rapport with Mary to gain authentic and intimate insight?
Aoife: "As we pitched the documentary, it was really going to be a warts and all look at her life, her times, her career.
Emphasising the fact that she's someone who's still relevant on the global stage now. As leader of The Elders, she has the ear of political leaders to this day.
The idea was to look at her life as a series of battles, beginning as a pioneering lawyer. Looking at women's reproductive rights, women's rights broadly, including the right to Legal Aid and to sit on juries The right to divorce, the decriminalisation of homosexuality, all issues that she was very centrally involved, in a pivotal role, in making progress in as a lawyer and senator.
We wanted to begin there, looking at the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, and her role in that. So we'd have, for example, the voice of the brilliant Nell McCafferty in the documentary, who describes the women of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement as being up on the barricades, fighting for their rights, and down below, the very polite Mary Robinson saying “we'll take them to court.” So, digging into that era was wonderful. All of the beautiful archive footage from that time, the footage of the contraceptive train, which is something that I've seen multiple times, but it's never lost its impact. It really is this extraordinary moment of defiance on the part of Irish women during that time. So digging into that era was where I began and and took it from there."
IFTN: You've touched on collecting the archival elements that are crucial to contextualising her impact, but how did you approach the edit, and establishing the juxtapositions between key historical milestones, interspersed with how relevant she still is now, on an international scale?
Aoife: "As soon as we came on board, Mary mentioned this beautiful footage that her father had shot on film throughout the course of her childhood, and said that we could have access to that. So that was something that I was really excited to dig into from the very beginning, because of the real insights that it gives, both to Mary's childhood and also to her family life with Nick and their children. Obviously it's never been seen before, so we were certain that was going to play a really significant role in the film. For the use of archives, we had a really extraordinary team led by brilliant producer Clare Stronge, who sought out and found archives from all over the world relating to Mary Robinson. That process was ongoing throughout post-production and production. Clare and her team really did a wonderful job with the archive. Then it was just about trying to get as many contributors who could talk about their experiences with Mary throughout the course of her career, and knitting that together in a way that gave that insight, and really presented her life, not just kind of as a glorious march through politics over decades, but actually really gave that sense of the challenges, for her family, and that were presented by her early years at the UN when she really struggled with small budgets and huge expectations and not always feeling supported. We really wanted to bring something new to this story, and to convey the realities of a life on the Irish stage, and also on the global stage, and the impact that has on an individual and their family."
IFTN: Now that the documentary is getting a theatrical release, what can audiences expect to see?
Aoife: "Audiences can expect to see a look, not only at the life and times of Mary Robinson, but a look at Irish society from the 1960s and 70s on. I think they'll see a new side of Mary. A lot of people have commented on the warm humour and the insight into family life with Nick and their three children. I think that, in particular, it's a moment to reflect on the achievements that have been made by Irish women over the last 50 years, as well as a look at the progress that has been made in other areas in Ireland. I know Mary would want me to point out that for her, the fight for climate justice is really the mother of all battles, as far as she's concerned. I think that also they can expect to see a woman who is now 80 fighting with energy and determination in what is an existential crisis for our planet."
Mrs. Robinson was directed by Aoife Kelleher and produced by Cormac Hargaden and Trisha Canning for Loosehorse. Executive Producers on the film include Pat Mitchell (co-founder of Project Dandelion), Geralyn Dreyfous, Lyn Lear, Regina K. Scully, Ruth Ann Harnisch, and Melony Lewis. The film was funded by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and the Fiscal Sponsorship programme of the Utah Film Center.
Mrs. Robinson is on release now in Irish cinemas.
