Derry filmmakers bid for awards success for 'The White Handkerchief'

A multi-award winning local film production team will discover this week if they have added to their success with a Royal Television Society Award. 

Open Reel Productions, and the Producer/Director team of Vinny Cunningham and John Peto have been nominated for the prestigious Specialist Factual award for their film The White Handkerchief, produced for BBC Four and BBC NI. 

The White Handkerchief told the behind the scenes story of the creation and production of the Derry Playhouse’s groundbreaking piece of musical theatre that was commissioned to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Bloody Sunday in 2022. 

The film took viewers deep into the heart of the making of the play as a cast of local young performers were trained at the highest level to bring the events of Bloody Sunday to a new audience in the City where the tragedy took place in 1972. 

Through the course of the production the writer of the Play, Liam Campbell, fought and sadly died from terminal illness just weeks before the first performance and the film tells the story of Director Kieran Griffiths determination that the show must go on to honor both the Bloody Sunday dead, and Liam Campbell. 

Despite critical acclaim in both England and Ireland when the film was broadcast, the nomination came as a shock to Vinny.

"We were really proud of The White Handkerchief even before it was ever screened, and the reaction confirmed to us that we had captured something special, but the RTS award nomination has been a lovely surprise.

"The validation from a body like the Royal Television Society is really lovely to have and it is the icing on the cake of what has been a very powerful journey with the film", he said. 

For John, the nomination carries extra importance - "We really wanted to show an audience right across the UK just how Derry’s positive attitude and vision for the future could take a terrible chapter from our history like Bloody Sunday and the subsequent cover up, and turn it into a catalyst for youth, art and creativity, and all that is good about this place.

"For the RTS to recognise the power of that story, and of Liam & Kieran’s mission with the Play, has been a great bonus for all of us."

The awards take place this Thursday night in Belfast City Hall and John & Vinny will be joined by the film’s Editor, Sean Coyle, alongside Open Reel’s Billy Gallagher and Karen Kirby from the BBC.