1916 licensed by five major broadcasters and 120-plus PBS stations
Dublin/London, March 9th 2016
RTÉ has signed deals for RTÉ One's landmark documentary 1916 to major broadcasters in the UK, Australia, France, Spain and Denmark. The three-part series, (and feature length version) written and produced by historian Briona Nic Dhiarmada and narrated by Liam Neeson, has also been licensed by 120 PBS stations in the US, as well as Aer Lingus.
Produced by COCO Television, the documentary has now been acquired by the BBC for BBC Four UK, SBS Australia, TF1 Histoire France, TVE Spain and DR Denmark. The series examines the 1916 East Rising in Dublin, which led to the establishment of an independent Irish state and, indirectly, the breakup of the British Empire. It also sets the Irish Rising in the context of the anti-colonial movement that followed the First World War, and explores the role played by the US and the Irish-American community at this seminal moment in world history. As a result, 1916 has been picked up by numerous PBS stations in cities with a high concentration of Irish-Americans, including Chicago, New York and Boston.
Oscar-nominated Irish actor, Liam Neeson, said: “The series puts the Easter Rising in a broader, more international context than has ever been done, and shows how it inspired similar movements around the world. What attracted me most was that the series also focuses on the personal stories of those involved. These stories are very human and powerful.”
Edel Edwards, from RTÉ International Programme Sales, who brokered the deals, said: “The demand for 1916, not just from the US and the UK but from around the world, underlines the global significance of the Easter Rising and its enduring legacy. As its centenary approaches, it's a timely moment to look back on the turbulent events that changed not only the relationship between Britain, Ireland and the US, but the world's relationship with colonial rule.”
1916 was created by Nic Dhairmada for the Keough-Naughton Institute of Irish Studies at the Univeristy of Notre Dame.