Alan Clarke
Alan John Clarke (1935 – 1990) was a prolific English television and film director, producer and writer. Most of Clarke’s creative output was for television, including work for the famous play strands The Wednesday Play and Play for Today. His subject matter tended towards social realism and radical politics, with a particular focus on deprived or oppressed communities and critiques of Thatcherite Britain. He worked in an almost experimental style of minimalism, the legacy of which can be seen in the films of British contemporaries such as Stephen Frears, Danny Boyle and Paul Greengrass as well as international filmmakers Harmony Korine and Gus Van Sant.
Maria Fusco is a working-class writer who grew up during the Troubles in Belfast. This Propositions event clashes together two BBC TV plays and an artist’s film to explore the ongoing legacies of censorship, voice and socio-cultural velocity with particular reference to the BBC’s broadcasting ban of 1988 to 1994 of Northern Irish (largely Nationalist) politicians.
The event title is a quote from Reginald Maudling, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, 1970-72