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Political assassination, government conspiracies, and an unsolved murder case are just a few of the thrilling storylines being brought to the big screen during ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´’s presentation of “The Irish in Film,” a free movie series sponsored by the Irish Studies Program. The series is part of the University’s “Arts & Minds” season of cultural and intellectual programs, which kicks-off its eleventh season on Wednesday, October 10, 2019, with the first of three dynamic films.

Each film screening is free and open to the public and will be presented in the DiMenna-Nyselius Library Multimedia Room on Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. Light refreshments will be served and each film will be introduced by a member of the Irish Studies faculty, who will field questions from the audience following the screenings.

The series begins October 10 with Director Ken Loach’s political thriller, “Hidden Agenda,” a 1990 film about British state terrorism during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Written by Jim Allen, the film depicts the fictional assassination of an American civil rights lawyer during an investigation of the alleged torture of IRA prisoners in Belfast. Brian Cox plays Kerrigan, a British police officer who attempts to solve the murder and eventually uncovers a governmental plot conspiring to bring down the British prime minister. English Professor Robert Epstein, PhD, will introduce the film.

The series continues on October 17 with Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney’s 2017 documentary, “No Stone Unturned.” The film investigates the 1994 Loughinisland massacre, an unsolved case in which masked members of an anti-IRA loyalist paramilitary group murdered six Catholic civilians in a Northern Ireland pub during a World Cup soccer game. The film’s presentation is made possible by the Irish Film Institute, Dublin, Ireland, and will be introduced by Kevin Cassidy, PhD, professor of Politics who teaches a course on Northern Ireland and is publishing a book on the subject later this year.

The series concludes October 24 with “The Journey,” a 2017 docu-drama about a fictionalized relationship between Ian Paisley, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, and Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein political leader. The film depicts the men in a friendly car ride after they engaged in negotiations to end the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. Although the car trip is pure invention, the film is based on a historic event that led to the 2006 St. Andrews power-sharing agreement. William Abbott, PhD, associate professor of History and co-director of the Irish Studies Program, will introduce the film.