Cormac Hargaden will tell you himself that it took a long time - “three or four or five years.”
He was eventually successful, however. Former Irish President and UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Mary Robinson consented, agreeing that a documentary about her life would be worth her while.
Robinson’s monumental career speaks for itself, from her pathbreaking efforts in aid of women’s rights in Ireland to her ongoing advocacy for global climate awareness, from her work as a law professor at Trinity College Dublin to her 20 years as a senator. It doesn’t need a film to highlight it. But Hargaden, the producer of “Mrs Robinson,” which gets its New York premiere on next Wednesday as part of this year’s CraicFest, feels as though the film could not have come at a more pivotal moment.
“Even though Mary is sometimes a reluctant subject, [and] she doesn’t love being on camera,” he revealed, “She opted in because she felt like the film could be a little bit of a batting ground for attention and that maybe it could inspire some of the generations that are coming behind to talk about climate”.
Hargaden welcomed the opportunity of showcasing a film such as this in the U.S. for another reason. “There’s a little bit under 50 percent of the population that hoped that they would’ve had a female president,” he said. “I think the film can remind people what is possible and what kind of transformative change can come from female leadership.”
Hargaden and Robinson, so, strived not only to inform but to inspire. “I think Mary’s wish for the film is that some young girls will watch it and maybe put up their hand and say ‘maybe I can make a difference too,” the film producer said.
He continued, “One thing that strikes me about Mary all the time is her incredible ability to listen.”
The former Irish president has a particular enthusiasm for young voices, the filmmaker revealed. “She talks all the time about getting a buzz from intergenerational dialogue,” Hargaden said. “When she’s in the presence of young people, and listening to their view of the future, is when she’s most energized”.
For Robinson, prioritizing the planet is about the fate of the generations behind her, and part of that mission involves listening to the youth’s concerns directly.
“She’s got two ears and one mouth,” Hardgaden said.
“For the teenage girl in the middle of rural Mayo, it was her sense of fairness that drove her. I think that’s a trait you see in the Irish everywhere,” the filmmaker said in the context of Robinson’s upbringing in Ballina, and how it shaped her worldview.
“She looked to people like Gandhi, people like Eleanor Roosevelt, and the UN declaration for human rights, and they were sort of role models.”
Mary Theresa Winifred Bourke was born in 1944 into a family of doctors and lawyers, but despite a background of relative privilege she opted for a heart of gold over a silver spoon.
“It probably has to do with our very long history of being the underdog and somewhat having to bite our tongue as we observe the injustices around us,” Hargaden said, adding that Robinson wears her heritage on her sleeve, “I think that burns very brightly in Mary.”
Robinson’s thirst for justice traces all the way back to the beginning of her career in the Irish courts, supporting those protesting in favor of the women’s liberation movement in 1970s Ireland.
“Mary has been fighting the fight on the frontline all her life”, Hargaden
said.
With issues as universal and ongoing as female liberation, why does Robinson’s story feel particularly relevant today? “I think that she has realized, as time went on, that the biggest human rights battle of all is around the climate catastrophe, as she would describe it,” Hargaden said. “The climate battle trumps them all — excuse the pun.”
From the recent devastation of the wildfires in L.A., to a power-stopping storm in Ireland, to an extra icy (albeit more inconvenient than dire) New York winter, the climate conversation has never felt quite as critical. And former President Robinson’s more traditional concerns for women, for immigrants, for refugees from war-torn nations are inextricably linked to the issue of climate.
Despited the doom and gloom, Hargaden is still hopeful. “I think that people, weirdly, could take away from a film about repression of women’s rights and reproductive rights and the rights of homosexuals in old Ireland,” he said. “And a film about terrible conflict and terrible hunger and apocalyptic climate change, in that Mary ultimately looks at these things through a prism of optimism.”
Hargaden comes from a background in sports documentaries — for instance directing in 2017 the IFTA-nominated “Giles,” about Johnny Giles, the Dublin-born former soccer star, manager and, in more decades, TV and press pundit. But he has turned the camera toward public life in recent years. His next documentary is about a predecessor of Robinson’s, President Éamon de Valera. It will be released in late summer to coincide with the 50th anniversary of his death.
For Hargaden, the earlier presidential documentary had one advantage over the de Valera project: it was gratifying to work with Robinson up close. “It’s nice to make a program when that legend is still in your midst,” he said. “She can then understand the gratitude and the warmth that people have for how she’s lived.”
“Mrs Robinson” receives its New York City premiere on March 6, as part of Craicfest, at Village East by Angelika. For more information, visit thecraicfest.com.
