A NEW film examining the life of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands 35 years on from his death aims to be “challenging for us all” says the Fermanagh man behind it. 
Bobby Sands: 66 Days, directed by Brendan J Byrne and produced by Trevor Birney, a former journalist with The Impartial Reporter, premiered in Belfast on Saturday. 
The film is comprised of Sands’ own words, drawn from his hunger strike diary, which gives a powerful and personal insight into the man and his beliefs as he embarked on his final journey. 
Sands’ own words form the heart of the film, through his many poems, letters and writings and in particular, his personal diary which he kept for the first 17 days of his hunger strike.
The film took over three years to make and has already been viewed in Toronto, where it had its world premiere in May, and at the Sheffield documentary festival where it received positive reviews. Variety, a weekly American entertainment trade magazine, gave the film a glowing review, praising its balance and describing it as a “work of art.” 
The film received some criticism before it was even released in Northern Ireland, with some unionists, including Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliott, suggesting there had been an “effort to make out that Bobby Sands was some sort of great person.”
Responding, Mr. Birney said: “We didn’t go into this film without thought and recognised of course that, for many Unionists and Republicans, the hunger strikes remain a very difficult period. But my children know very little about this time, they certainly won’t learn anything about it in school, and yet this was a critical moment in our recent history. That’s a very good reason to do a film like this.”
The Enniskillen man said the film “is challenging for all of us.”
“It asks questions of our memory of the hunger strike and, for me, critically about who was Bobby Sands. We all recognise the name, but do we know anything about the 27 year old who stepped forward to lead the hunger strike? I hope this film will help answer some of those questions.”
Journalist and columnist Denzil McDaniel, the former editor of The Impartial Reporter, attended the premiere on Saturday. 
“To have my friend and former colleague, Denzil in Belfast was very important for me and the festival,” said Mr. Birney. 
“He never shied away from contentious issues when he was editor and he still doesn’t in his column. I particularly appreciated his comments on the quality of debate and discussion in Northern Ireland; the fact that newspapers and broadcasters wouldn’t wait to see the film until they’d seen it first says a lot about their lack of editorial judgement.”
Mr. McDaniel was of one three panellists who took part in a discussion following the premiere in which he was was asked about the column he wrote on the film for The Impartial Reporter.
He recalled working as a young reporter when the hunger striker was elected MP for Fermanagh-south Tyrone, and described 1981 as one of massive change, saying the film had brought back many vivid memories of a turbulent period which had affected everyone who lived through it.
“I would urge Unionists to go and watch this film,” said Mr. McDaniel. 
“We need to learn about our own history, and this event had a very significant impact on where we find ourselves today. Unionists need to learn about the psyche of Republicans,” he said.
“Equally, I would urge Republicans to learn more about Unionists,” he told an audience which included several former prisoners and leading Sinn Fein figures.
The film will be screened in over 30 cinemas across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland this weekend, including IMC in Enniskillen. It will open in New York later in the year and will be screened by the BBC next spring.
 Bobby Sands: 66 Days is a co-commission for BBC Four Storyville and BBC Northern Ireland made by Fine Point Films and Cyprus Avenue Films in association with Northern Ireland Screen, Sveriges Television and the Danish Broadcast Corporation with the participation of The Irish Film Board.