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

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Details

Location

Belfast, University of Atypical

Year

2021

Date

Length

02min 28sec

Audio

silent

Format

Digital

colour

Source

Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive

Courtesy

Hands That Sign, Jane O'Brien, 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

ISL translation and performance by Jane O'Brien

Filmed in University of Atypical by Stuart Calvin

Produced by Sinéad Bhreathnach-Cashell for Northern Ireland Screen

A Silent War Creative Producers: Sinéad Bhreathnach-Cashell & Ann Donnelly

Funded by the Department for Communities through Northern Ireland Screen

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