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ARISE, YOU GALLANT SWEENEYS!
SD video, 67 mins
2010

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'Arise, You Gallant Sweeneys!' is a feature-length documentary, which experiments with the form by making the directorial and production team a collaboration involving the whole cast.

The film is about, and by, a group of Irish working men, collectively calling themselves The Long Distance Gang in homage to their shared working history. These are men who travelled to the UK as very young men in the 1950s and 60s, who built the infrastructure of post-war Britain, and who never made it home. The camera follows the men as they sing, curse, laugh and cry their way back to families and villages left a generation before.

The film and surrounding project was the subject of a photo feature in Guardian Weekend magazine in April 2011 by Booker-nominated author Jon McGregor. The film was also shown by TG4 Irish television in December 2011.

The Guardian article can be read here .

The project was supported by Out/Side/Film and Advocacy in Action. The Long Distance Gang collectively owns all material produced.

DVDs are available for sale at £11 including p + p to the UK. Please contact outsidefilm@mail.com to buy a DVD or discuss screening.

A trailer for the film can be watched here .