Film Ireland Podcast

“Welcome to the DocArena Podcast in association with Film Ireland. My name is Ross Whitaker and every fortnight, I want to dig deeply into the motivations of documentary filmmakers – how do they choose their subject material and what approaches and strategies do they employ to fund, craft and distribute their work…” In this second episode of DocArena, Ross talk to Johnny Gogan, whose latest film, Groundswell, brings into focus an isolated Irish border community faceing down the powerful fracking industry. The film follows the establishment of a broad-based campaign in these counties which spread nationally and internationally, leading to the passing of a seminal low in the Dáil banning fracking in 2017. With over 40 contributions from participants on both sides of the Atlantic including actor and campaigner Mark Ruffalo, Sandra Steingraber, Eddie Mitchell, Dianne Little and Nuala McNulty, Groundswell is a very affirmative story about the power of community and creativity, but also about the persistence of