About

Known credits:
27
Birthday:
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Place of birth:
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Website:
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Margo Harkin

Overview

'Margo Harkin is one of Ireland’s most versatile and respected filmmakers – having directed and produced fiction and documentary films for over forty years. Her work includes an invaluable chronicle of Northern Ireland’s recent political history.

After graduating in Fine Art from the Ulster College of Art and Design in 1974, Harkin worked as an art teacher and community worker in socially deprived areas of Derry. She joined Field Day Theatre Company in 1980 as an Assistant Stage Manager on Brian Friel’s Translations, before going on to work as a stage designer for the company.

In 1984, Harkin co-founded Derry Film & Video Workshop with Anne Crilly and Trisha Ziff delivering critical perspectives that ran counter to the censored narratives then broadcast by British and Irish television. The signal works of this period were Mother Ireland (1988), Anne Crilly’s controversial documentary about feminism and Irish republicanism, and Harkin’s own Hush-A-Bye Baby (1990), a feature drama about teenage pregnancy following the 1983 abortion referendum in Ireland.

Harkin established Besom Productions in 1992 making educational films for Channel 4 but her reputation as an astute, local documentarian of injustices was soon forged through a series of highly regarded television documentaries. Her cinema films, the surf documentary Waveriders (2003), by Joel Conroy (which she produced), and Stolen (2023), about the plight of unmarried mothers in Ireland in the 20th century, provided thoroughly researched, compelling accounts of their subjects.

Margo Harkin is a member of Aosdána. Her work has won countless awards and is widely taught to third-level film and media students.

Spanning over four decades, Harkin’s work has consistently challenged societal narratives, giving voice to the silenced and bearing witness to the social and political upheavals that have shaped the contemporary Irish landscape. The retrospective will span across the IFI’s cinema screens, as well as online via IFI@Home, IFI International and the IFI Archive Player.' From https://ifi.ie/margo-harkin/

Known for

Acting
2022 Nothing Compares Actor Self 60
Fair

Directing
2023 Stolen Directing Director N/A
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2018 Eamonn McCann: A Long March Directing Director N/A
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2013 The Return of Colmcille Directing Director N/A
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2012 The Far Side of Revenge Directing Director N/A
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2010 Bloody Sunday: A Derry Diary Directing Director N/A
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2006 Ocras Directing Director N/A
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2003 You Looking at Me? Directing Director N/A
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2000 Looking for Lundy Directing Director N/A
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1999 A Plague on Both Your Houses Directing Director N/A
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1998 Clear the Stage Directing Director N/A
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1998 12 Days in July Directing Director N/A
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1995 NYPD Nude Directing Director N/A
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1990 Hush-a-Bye Baby Directing Director 58
Average

Writing
2023 Stolen Writing Writer N/A
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2010 Bloody Sunday: A Derry Diary Writing Writer N/A
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1990 Hush-a-Bye Baby Writing Writer 58
Average

Production
2023 Stolen Production Producer N/A
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2018 Eamonn McCann: A Long March Production Producer N/A
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2013 The Return of Colmcille Production Producer N/A
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2012 The Far Side of Revenge Production Producer N/A
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2011 Sisters of the Lodge Production Producer N/A
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2006 Ocras Production Producer N/A
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2003 You Looking at Me? Production Producer N/A
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2000 Looking for Lundy Production Producer N/A
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1999 A Plague on Both Your Houses Production Producer N/A
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1988 Mother Ireland Production Producer N/A
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