‘Under Surveillance’ is a short film, performed and collaborated with residents of Wicklow Grand Hotel Direct Provision Centre during the Summer of 2020. It explores themes of isolation, deportation, integration, racism and the human requirement to belong.
The film consists of 10 short scenes covering a 24 hour period, centred around the entrance to the hotel and set during the first Covid lockdown. We see the transient flow of residents, camaraderie, homesickness, boredom and the mental anguish of awaiting a fate of asylum or deportation with strangers who become family.
Funded by Create Ireland and Wicklow County Council, it will premiere at the Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Co. Wicklow, on Thursday 9 December 2021 at 8pm with a short panel discussion afterwards.
Tina Noonan | Irish playwright 