Film to shed light on Cork revolutionary
The untold story of a Cork woman’s important role in Ireland’s fight for freedom will be brought to the big screen next month.
Highlighting the life of Irish revolutionary Mary Jane O’Donovan Rossa, originally from Clonakilty, ‘Rebel Wife’ will be screened at the Fastnet Film Festival which runs from 22-26 May in Schull.
The documentary delves into the significant yet overlooked contributions of Mary Jane to Ireland's fight for freedom alongside her more famous husband, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa.
The film was directed and produced by her great-grandson Williams Rossa Cole and follows her life from her controversial marriage at 19 to her emergence as a formidable public speaker and fundraiser in the United States, where she campaigned for the cause of Irish independence and the plight of imprisoned Irish nationalists, including her husband.
Despite her substantial contribution and the personal sacrifices she made, including raising 13 children, Mary Jane's efforts were largely unrecognized after her husband's death.
Her strategic decision to hold Jeremiah's funeral in Dublin, contrary to his wishes, is thought to have significantly fuelled the momentum for the Easter Rising of 1916.
However, Mary Jane's story did not garner the same recognition. Dying shortly after the Easter Rising, her contributions faded into the background, and she was buried in Staten Island, away from her homeland and husband.
The screening in May will be followed by a by a Q&A with director Rossa Cole who relied heavily on family archives and dedicated research in creating the documentary. For more information, visit fastnetfilmfestival.com.
Rossa Cole’s feature-length credits include ‘Rebel Wife’ (2023), ‘Gumbo Coalition’ (2022), ‘Barney's Wall’ (2019), ‘Rebel Rossa’ (2016), ‘Finding Fela’ (2014) ‘99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film’ (2013), the HBO feature ‘Gun Fight’ (2011), and the documentary ‘Giuliani Time’ (2006).
From 2014-2018 he filmed in locations like Lebanon, Senegal, India, Thailand, and Chile for the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities initiative and before that produced and directed over 60 short documentary profiles of authors for Open Road Integrated Media.
He is an alumnus of Columbia University and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London School of Economics. He was also a founder of the Brooklyn Rail, a publication on arts, politics, and culture. Recently he has expanded his skills around AI strategy and information warfare with a particular interest in synthetic moving images.