THE acclaimed documentary on Irish cricket, Batmen, has been shortlisted for the Sports Documentary award at the Irish Film and Television Awards.
Directed by Maurice Sweeney and produced by Jamie D’Alton and Anne McLoughlin of Motive.tv, Batmen examines the sports from its birth in the 18th century right up to the summer of 2012 and the glorious golden age sparked by the international successes of the national team.
Using amazing archive footage from the 1920s and the 1969 win over the West Indies at Sion Mills, Batmen vividly tales the amazing tale of a game that was the most popular in the country 150 years ago but which fell victim to the buffeting winds of history and politics.
Written by Ger Siggins, the 52 minute film also includes contributions from cricketers John Mooney, Andrew White, Ed Joyce, Ossie Colhoun and Michael Halliday and historian Paul Rouse.
Also shortlisted are Motive.tv’s ‘We Got Game’ about the golden age of Irish basketball; Páidí Ó Sé - Rí an Pharóiste (King of the Parish), about the Kerry GAA legend; and R.O.G. The Ronan O’Gara Story, about the retired rugby star.
The IFTA awards will be presented at a glittery ceremony in Dublin on April 5th.
Batmen was shown on Setanta Sports and can now be seen on Motive.tv’s website:
www.motive.ie/portfolio-posts/batmen/