In the spring and summer of 1981 fifteen young men, prisoners in Northern Ireland, decided as a final form of protest to begin a hunger strike. This film explores the day to day reality which compels a man to voluntarily surrender his life as a form of protest.
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In the spring and summer of 1981 fifteen young men, prisoners in Northern Ireland, decided as a final form of protest to begin a hunger strike. Over a four month period, ten of these men starved to death. Michael James Devine was the last of the hunger strikers to die. To his community he died a freedom fighter, to the British government he died a common criminal. Within these two classifications lies the germ of Michael’s story. THE LAST HUNGER STRIKE explores the day to day reality which compels a man to voluntarily surrender his life as a form of protest.
Covering the period of 1968, when a fledgling civil rights movement enlisted both Catholic and Protestant poor, until 1981, when Northern Ireland had moved to a bitter polarization, the film clearly outlines what happened in each depressing step along the way.
John J. O’Connor
The New York Times
Presents a viewpoint heretofore banned from the airwaves!
Ray Quinn
American-Irish Unity Committee
For an understanding of the Irish situation, it’s an hour not to be missed . . . . It is like a skillfully created tapestry, weaving facts, film footage of violent upheavals, and interviews. It packs a tremendous emotional wallop!
Kay Gardella
The Daily News
A sensitive – but shattering – look at the human dimensions of violence that continues to rock Northern Ireland.
Liz Emmett
PBS Television
From the beginning of the Irish civil rights movement, through his death in prison, Michael’s story is told by those who knew him well and by those throughout Ireland who share his convictions. Woven into the personal narrative are interviews with a British government official and with members of the Protestant Loyalist community.
National Video Festival American Film Institute
It has, for the first time in film, given voice to both sides in the Northern Irish conflict. For anyone seeking a balanced understanding of reports which normally originate from one side only, it is essential viewing.
James P. Cullen
Brehon Law Society
It is tight, concise and effective at bringing to light the ‘missing elements’ of the BBC series.
Madeline Tokach
Celtic League
