In partnership with Irish Film London…

We’re presenting a rare-screening of Margo Harkin‘s HUSH A BYE BABY

+ Live post-screening discussion with Margo Harkin 

Rio Cinema – Sunday 5 February, 15:30

Goretti, Majella, Sinead and Dinky are four school friends living in the catholic ghettos of the Bogside and Creggan estates in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1984. At the age of 15 they are full of youthful exuberance and boys feature largely in their interests. When Goretti meets Ciarán at an Irish language class a romance begins…

A rare depiction of the period in which it is set, the focus of HUSH A BYE BABY is not on the sectarian politics which dominate recreations of the era, but rather on the 1983 abortion referendum, offering a humanising tale of the impact draconian women’s rights had on Irish women during this time. Its message is still relevant forty years later.

Featuring a young Sinéad O’Connor. Shot on 16mm film in Derry and Donegal, it premiered to critical acclaim in Dublin and went on to win many prizes at international film festivals. including three awards for its lead actress Emer McCourt.