Belfast Beauty
My friend L. took this short movie on a street near where I work in East Belfast. She called it an American Beauty moment. L. was working with a group of students from a US College in Oregon who had visited the Mission last Wednesday and they encountered this streamer on their tour of the area.
The fence in the shot is actually a gate which is used to separate Catholic and Protestant communities, a feature of inner city communities in Belfast. It was erected in 2002 following two years of sustained violence across the interface. Lynda is shooting from the Protestant side; note the dereliction that runs right up to the gate. On the other side of the fence the chimney pots you can see are from Catholic homes.
This is the way it is at the moment in Belfast. We’re rigidly divided and refusing to trust one another…often for good reason. But there are moments, in even the midst of awfulness that take your breath away. And Lynda captures one of them. This wee short is also remarkable for one other thing…BLUE SKY!