Belfast Girls

Swedish director Malin Andersson ventured to Northern Ireland to film this documentary about a pair of young women growing up in a region still divided by long-simmering sectarian conflict. The division, in this case, is also physical: a series of concrete and corrugate iron partitions given the unlikely name of “peace walls” that separate Belfast's Catholic and Protestant communities. Here, the Catholic 20-year-old Mairéad McIlkenny and the 18-year-old Protestant Christine Savage come into contact when Christine begins dating Mairéad's roommate. Mairéad, who had never known a Protestant on a personal level, finds Christine to be something of an exotic figure, while for unmarried mother Christine, dating a Catholic man is a daring act—violating a serious religious taboo. Although the violence that wracked Northern Ireland has abated, the animosity at the root of the conflict clearly remains. Belfast Girls suggests that the two young women are taking a small step in building a new future just by being friends. The film isn't particularly successful as a double portrait (neither woman's story, frankly, is interesting enough to warrant this level of attention), but it does offer an important reminder that Belfast has a long distance yet to travel in order to achieve serious healing. As a sidenote, the Irish accents are rather thick in the film, making the inclusion of subtitles a welcome addition. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)