Transition Game
A documentary film work-in-progress
Please take a minute to watch the trailer to Transition Game. You can also click on the interviews button to see some unedited footage of some of the people whose stories we will tall when we return to Belfast to begin primary photography on what will be a feature length documentary film.
Dave Cullen grew up in a hardscrabble Catholic neighborhood in West Belfast, where the Troubles raged up and down his street and took the life of his father. His love of basketball saved him from being consumed by the violence and took him to the top level of the Irish pro game.
Mike Evans grew up in a comfortable Connecticut town. His love for basketball led to four years as a college player, and eventually brought him to Belfast as an American player on an Irish team.
Evans and Cullen now use the game as a way to try and break down the walls between Catholics and Protestants in this divided place. Transition Game is the story of Full Court Peace, which brings together teenagers from Catholic-only schools and Protestant-only schools for a season of basketball, where the teammates find their own path across the sectarian divide that separates them.
Transition Game is also about what happens after the games are over. The story of Full Court Peace and the group’s teams Belfast Blazers and Belfast Bulldogs, provide a lens into the bigger picture of what peace looks like a decade after the was war was officially declared over.
Can there be real peace in places like Northern Ireland? Can places divided by a history of sectarian hatred find a way to build lasting peace? Even after a new political structure is put in place, how does that translate to every day life?
On April 10, 1998, the Good Friday Peace Agreement put an end to 30 years of sectarian violence, known as the Troubles. On the streets of Belfast, where most of that violence took place, people see the last decade as a cease fire, not a peace. They have seen cease fires before, and they understand how fragile peace can be.
New walls have been built and old ones made higher. People here understand that the roots of violence still lurk just below the surface, even as they stay guardedly optimistic about the hope of building a lasting peace.
FUNDING
We are currently putting together our budget for the feature length documentary film Transition Game. Questions on financing or individual contributions can be directed to John Stanton at . This film is being produced under the non-profit, 501(c)3, umbrella of the Center for Documentary Films. You can learn more at www.documentaries.org. Your contributions may be tax deductible.