DOC NYC Presents The Irish Documentary Young Plato

How it’s New York: DOC NYC calls NYC home

How it’s Irish: Ireland, the UK and Canada were all represented at the documentary festival

DOC NYC returned from its all-virtual event last year to both theatrical and virtual screenings in November for the 12^th edition. More than 300 documentaries, shorts and events were featured during the 10 day fest, many of which have distribution. But there are some terrific documentaries that have yet to get picked up, including the outstanding  Young Plato, which made its World Premiere at the fest (and is seeking US distribution). The film, from Belfast, deserves to be highlighted and will hopefully make its way to screens near you in 2022.

Directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin and Declan McGrath, the duo present the riveting Kevin McArevey, the headmaster at Holy Cross Boys Public School, a Catholic grade school in Ardoyne, in a tough part of Belfast rife with drugs, suicides and a lingering residue of “The Troubles” (where there were once burnt out buses, there are now peace walls with barbed wire on top separating Catholics and Protestants). The two spent “two years knocking about the school” to fully immerse themselves in the school and the community. When McArevey’s not keeping fit and sane in the school gym or celebrating his love of Elvis, he and the staff are bringing Greek philosophy to the classrooms and hallways to help the children understand their feelings and communicate better amid that fraught historical backdrop. As someone who himself once used to solve problems with his fists and drinking, McArevey, who comes from a Republican family, is well equipped to be able to effectively speak from experience.

Many of the boys come from households full of decades of that trauma. Some are the offspring of those who endured bombings as recently as the early part of this Century. One boy thinks Catholics and Protestants have different cultures. Another shares that his grandmother was shot by a member of the IRA, caught in the crossfire during a confrontation between the IRA and police. McArevey, who likens Hooker Street of the 60s and 70s with modern day Syria, employs a Socratic Circle in classrooms, using a ball to give lessons on what to do with anger instead of hitting someone or reacting in an unconstructive way. He also utilizes a Philosophy Wall and writing exercises so that the boys can better understand what they’ve done wrong, what they should have done and then offer apologies. There’s a lovely scene where, after a schoolyard fight, one of the boys who’d been part of a bullying group, tearfully hugs the kid who’d been picked on.

This lovely and moving portrait will leave you feeling inspired and more hopeful about the fractured world we’re living in, and the younger generations inheriting it.

For more information on the festival, go to https://www.docnyc.net/2021-festival/