RTÉ will be screening I’m Roger Casement, a dance short film which was inspired by queer republican, Roger Casement as part of The Casement Project

RTÉ will be screening the dance short film I’m Roger Casement next Tuesday, 17 January, as part of an initiative to celebrate the gay icon and “human rights trailblazer” titled The Casement Project.

Roger Casement was an Irish republican involved in the 1916 Easter Rising who was, according to journal entries in The Black Diaries, gay. Amongst other things, the diary entries detail his sexual engagement with other men.

The authenticity of The Black Diaries has been questioned, however, with some indicating that they may have been forged as a propaganda tool to lower Casement in people’s esteem.

Who’s Behind The Short Film?

Initiated by choreographer Fearghus Ó Conchúir and directed by Dearbhla Walsh, this project is part of a year-long choreography of bodies and ideas, and has previously been realised on stage, on a beach and in the academy.

For Emmy, IFTA and BAFTA winner Dearbhla Walsh the piece represents a continuing collaborative relationship between herself and Fearghus Ó Conchúir.

“Working wth RTÉ to make this broadcast possible is an essential part of The Casement Project, not only because it’s a chance to work with Dearbhla again, after the success of working with her on previous dance films,  but also because it’s a way to reach people in their homes who might never set foot in a theatre to see contemporary dance,” Ó Conchúir said.

“I want to connect a wider audience to what dance can communicate about the world. Broadcast provides that opportunity. The film is a beautiful legacy to The Casement Project that I hope will continue to delight and move audiences across the world and long into the future.”

Pure Physical Beauty

The Netflix series The Punisher director reflected on the choreographer’s appeal, calling his dance work beautiful.

“The apparently abstract and pure physical beauty of his dance work and ideas attract me in ways that I find hard to explain: the money and time is always too little but the heart and ambition is always in abundance,” Walsh said.

Sarah Ryder, Executive Producer of RTÉ Arts, said that RTÉ were proud to broadcast the creative endeavour, calling the short film “provocative and moving”.

“Dearbhla and Fearghus’ film is an exquisite artistic tribute to an Irish human rights trailblazer, writer and visionary,” Ryder said.

“RTÉ Television is honoured to be able to bring this visually stunning, provocative and moving film homage to Casement to the nation.”

The film will be screened on Tuesday, 17 January on RTÉ One at 11:10pm.