What does a border mean to the people who live there?

… A checkpoint?
… A chance to care for neighbours regardless of their beliefs?
… A way of controlling and watching over people, like in colonial times?
… A matter of identity?

The Reel Borders shorts is a collection of four amateur short documentary films exploring the meaning of borders to people who lived during the Troubles, those who grew up post-Good Friday Agreement, and those from other countries with their own views on what borders represent. Allingham audiences enjoyed a taster of this fascinating project last year. This year they will get to see all four films in the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon. In this border town they are sure to spark many further questions and, if not answers, reflections of local experience.

The Reel Borders Project is funded by the European Research Council (Starting Grant #948278), hosted at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and in partnership with the Nerve Centre, the Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive, and the Irish Film Institute Archive