The Uncle Jack is at once a portrait of John T. Davis’ maternal uncle John McBride Neill, the cinema architect who from the 1930s to the 1960s designed 18 of Northern Ireland's most cherished cinemas, and a self-portrait of Davis himself.
It was ‘the uncle Jack’ who catalysed Davis’ passion for filmmaking. ‘Jack was like a second father to me, and when he died, he left so much to me, his house, his inventions, his musical instruments, but most importantly, the 8mm camera that was to change my life forever.’ Through a montage of dramatic reconstructions, abstract sequences, contemporary narrative and diverse archival sources, Davis’ moving tribute to Jack is bound up with a deeply personal statement about the power of obsession and the drive towards creativity.
John T. Davis is internationally recognised as Northern Ireland’s most distinctive documentary filmmaker and cinematographer. QFT hosted a full retrospective of John's work back in 2017. We are delighted to be able to host a selection of John's classic films on QFT Player.
Dir: John T. Davis & Sé Merry Doyle | 1996 | UK/Ireland | 1 hr 19 mins
A dog accompanies his owner through the highs and lows of quarantine. A short film by Dominic Curran with music by Chris W Ryan.
Dir: Dominic Curran | 2020 | UK | 8 mins
Artist and filmmaker Mariah Garnett discusses her debut feature Trouble with curator Eoin Dara.
Mariah Garnett’s intimate and inventive biographical portrait of her artist father recounts in his own words his past as a political activist in Belfast and his daughter’s unlikely influence on his li...
Witness The Outcasts at their incendiary best in this thrilling concert film from John T. Davis.
Organised by Terri Hooley's Good Vibration Records, this legendary gig found almost 1800 people cramming into The Ulster Hall to see local band The Outcasts. The events depicted here were later immor...
