- Christmas Day 1960. After five years of imprisonment a young man escapes in a snowy winter night with a file and linen from Britain's safest prison in Belfast. Chasing him: an army forced by 12.000 policemen and soldiers. However, they never caught him. Danny Donnelly became secretary to Sinn Fein, aged 16. At the age of 17 he was interned without trial, then jailed for 10 years on the sole charge of membership of an illegal organisation. Four years later he escaped. He was never a member of the Provisional IRA and his story has nor been told before. 50 years to the day of his escape, Danny travels back to Northern Ireland and retraces the footsteps of his escape. A film dealing with one man's story set against the backdrop of the conflict in Northern Ireland from the perspective of faith, hope and forgiveness.—Úna Ní Dhonghaíle
- On St. Stephens Day in 1960, a young political prisoner escapes from Belfast's Crumlin Road prison. Just like in a Hollywood movie, he cuts the bars, abseils on a rope made of torn up sheets, dodges the searchlights, eludes machine gun nests and finally disappears into the freezing night of sleet and snow - without a trace. Four years earlier, 18-year-old Danny Donnelly had been sentenced to 10 years in prison, the longest sentence ever given on the sole charge of membership of the IRA. His escape sparked the biggest manhunt in the history of Ireland. 12.000 police and B- Specials chased him for one week until on New Year's Eve, he made his way to safety south of the border. 50 years later, Danny retraces his escape on exactly the same days between Christmas and New Year, following the same route, finding his hideouts and most importantly meeting again the people who helped, non of whon were involved in any political organisation. The Invisible Man is a documentary road-movie, retracing Danny's "Great Escape" in contemporary Northern Ireland, simultaneously travelling through past and present. At the same time, the film will interweave his story with the history of the Anglo-Irish conflict in order to understand what social conditions drove a teenager to join the IRA, and what later made him turn his back on the violence of the Provisional IRA, choosing to promote Irish identity through language, songs and poetry instead of building bombs. Finally the film will investigate why Danny's amazing story was airbrushed out of the history of Northern Ireland as well as the history of the IRA.—Úna Ní Dhonghaíle
- On a snowy Christmas night in 1960, two young political prisoners escaped from Crumlin Road jail, their names were Daniel Donnelly and John Kelly. They used hacksaw blades to cut through the bars and torn bed sheets as a rope to abseil down the walls - the rope broke, one fell outside the prison walls, the other fell back inside. 'The Invisible Man' tells the story of Daniel Donnelly's dramatic escape, 50 years to the day, as he retraces his footsteps and meets some of the people who helped him achieve his freedom. What makes Daniel's story unique is that his escape was not an IRA escape as he was not a member of the IRA, nor the provisional IRA, and as such his story has not been included in official IRA history. Aged 16, Daniel became a secretary of the West Tyrone branch of Sinn Fein. Shortly after he joined Operation Harvest in 1956. He was interned without trial aged 17 and held in custody until he was charged with 'membership of an illegal organisation'. He refused to recognise the authority of the British Court in Northern Ireland and he was sentenced to 10 years in jail on this sole charge. Four years later, he made his escape. He was never caught and in 1986 Margaret Thatcher's Government gave him a Royal Pardon. Daniel (Donal) is very positive about his life and dreams, his main goal was one of civil rights and with the peace that has been achieved in Northern Ireland, he reflects on the past and hopes for continued peace in the future. This is a film of hope and reconciliation, whilst confronting the harsh injustices of the past.
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