Besom Productions
You Looking at Me?
Information
Writer: Teresa Godfrey
Producer: Margo Harkin
Director: Margo Harkin
Production Manager: Michelle Walsh
Production Co-Ordinator: Morag Tinto
First TX on RTE: 1st December 2003
Broadcasters: Channel 4
This lively new drama tells the story of Mei, Kenny, Ciaran and Niamh – four young people coping with a tangle of friendships, family life and local politics in present-day Belfast.
Synoposis
You Looking at Me? explores the narrow ground of conflicting loyalties, identities and family traditions against a backdrop of community fears, suspicions and aggression. The predictable sectarian tensions, which often bedevil romance across the Protestant-Catholic divide, are complicated in this story by the involvement of another culture in the shape of Mei’s traditional Chinese family ties. The drama looks at some of the challenges of living in Northern Ireland, such as responding to sectarianism, ethnic diversity and multiculturalism. It raises issues about the management of diversity and the promotion of an inclusive society - issues which challenge governments and communities throughout the world. Shining through all the ups and downs of this upbeat, pacy drama is the sparky humour of Belfast wisecracking – sentimental and sometimes unforgiving, yet full of warmth and humanity. The film is scored by John O’Neill of ‘The Undertones’
John Richmond, formerly Commissioning Editor, Schools at 4Learning, who commissioned the film, said: “Over the last decade, Channel 4 Schools and now 4Learning have commissioned numerous films and factual series for children and young people aiming to make a contribution to the widening and strengthening of mutual understanding and respect between the two communities in Northern Ireland. You Looking at Me? is a beautiful drama in this tradition: often funny, sometimes frightening, always authentic. I know it will make an impact for good.”