Private Project

The Ban

Winner London Short Film Festival 2025.
Winner Best Short Big Sky Film Festival 2025.
BAFTA longlist 2025.

During the conflict in the north of Ireland a practice developed that saw actors hired to dub those associated with the IRA on broadcast media. Via unseen archive footage and present-day interviews with key figures such as Gerry Adams and Stephen Rea, The Ban reflects on the British government’s use of the threat of ‘terrorism’ to justify censorship, drawing inevitable comparisons with the present.
Commissioned by Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive.
Supported by Northern Ireland Screen.

Produced by
Erica Starling Productions
Unbecoming

  • Roisin Agnew
    Director
    The Plan That Came From The Bottom Up, Yara,
  • Alison Millar
    Producer
    Lyra, The Disappeared, The Day Mountbatten Died, Searching For Shergar, Accused: A Mother On Trial
  • Sam Howard
    Producer
    Lyra, Midwives, Ireland's Last Matchmaker
  • Gerry Adams
    Key Cast
  • Stephen Rea
    Key Cast
  • Eamon McCann
    Key Cast
  • Danny Morrison
    Key Cast
  • Denis Murray
    Key Cast
  • Conor Grimes
    Key Cast
  • Tim Loane
    Key Cast
  • Roisin Agnew
    Writer
  • Oscar "Oxhy" Khan
    Music
  • Nicole Halova
    Editor
  • Yellowmoon Productions
    Sound
  • Eamon Mallie
    Consultancy
  • Una Mullally
    Consultancy
  • Wave Survivors Group
    Consultancy
  • Theo Inglis
    Graphics
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    26 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 23, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    Ireland, United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • IDFA
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    November 13, 2024
    International
  • Aesthetica
    York
    United Kingdom
    Official Selection
  • Docs Ireland
    Belfast
    United Kingdom
    June 23, 2024
    Irish Premiere
    Official Selection
  • IFI Documentary Festival
    Dublin
    Ireland
    September 29, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Indie Cork
    Cork
    Ireland
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Roisin Agnew

Roisin Agnew is an Italian-Irish filmmaker and writer based in London.

She’s the director of BAFTA longlisted short film, The Ban (2024). She’s currently in development with a narrative feature with Tailored Films (Bring Them Down, The Apprentice), and a metafictional documentary with Fine Point Films (Kneecap). She has credits on Swang Song (2021), Yara (2023), Grierson Award-nominated The Plan That Came From The Bottom Up (2020). She has worked as a games writer for PlayStation (2022). She’s a PhD student at Goldsmiths University and an Associate Lecturer at London Film School.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

2024 marked 30 years since the IRA ceasefire and the lifting of the Broadcast Ban that led to the beginning of the peace process, and arguably the right time to revisit this mostly forgotten moment in history. The Ban has come to fruition at a time when both Britain and Northern Ireland are undergoing seismic changes. Irish republicanism’s ascent in politics has led to Northern Ireland having a Sinn Fein First Minister for the first time in history. At time of submission, the UK government has sought to change the state’s definition of ‘extremism’ in a highly controversial move seen as a response to pro-Palestinian protests. In a climate of growing censoriousness and illiberal double speak that has spread as the genocide in Gaza continues to unfold, The Ban wants to reflect on the power attributed to the voice as a democratising agent. Looking to the Troubles as an early iteration of the ‘war on terror’ it seeks to explore the power of the media in delegitimising dissent in the name of national security and to protect state interests.

The Ban has been programmed at BAFTA, IDFA, CPH Dox, London Short Film Festival, Big Sky, Institute of Contemporary Art, Barbican, Bertha DocHouse, IFI Doc Festival, Docs Ireland, Sputnik Kino Berlin, Goldsmiths University, London College of Communication, Foyle Film Festival, IndieCork and more.