A Silent War - Panopticon (B.S.L.)

Details

Location

Belfast, University of Atypical

Year

2021

Date

Length

01min 30sec

Audio

silent

Format

Digital

colour

Source

Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive

Courtesy

Hands That Sign, Paula Clarke, Ross Thompson

Rights Holder

Northern Ireland Screen, Ross Thompson

It is illegal to download, copy, print or otherwise utilise in any other form this material, without written consent from the copyright holder.

Description

Panopticon by Ross Thompson, written in Bangor during 2020 Lockdown.

What it is to be lonely, like sneaking
unseen into a slow, sleeping city 

in the fuzzy glow of early morning,
leaving no trace on grids of unmanned streets,

a stagehand creeping unnoticed between
scenes, black on black as you fill cups with air

or drape blank newspapers over a folding 
table in a pretend café where spooks 

mouth silently over a dense soundtrack 
of quiet, then coming home in the dark

of evening to still rooms of unopened
curtains and a flatscreen for company, 

then falling into half a double bed, 
fearful that you might wake up as a ghost 

by a lit fireplace, haunting your own house.

Credits

Panopticon by Ross Thompson
BSL translation and performance by Paula Clarke
Filmed in University of Atypical by Stuart Calvin
A Silent War Creative Producers: Sinéad Bhreathnach-Cashell & Ann Donnelly
Funded by the Department for Communities through Northern Ireland Screen

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