February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
David Tereshchuk is the man, a journalist who currently works with the United Nations. In January 1972, he was a junior TV reporter in Derry who went to the civil rights march that ended with the massacre of 14 unarmed civilians.
But Tereshchuk’s experience of the day has haunted him ever since – and as he prepares to return to the Maiden City, he begins to question the reliability of his memories from that day when British paratroopers suddenly opened fire on the marchers.
The film follows him from his home in New York City to Derry City, interspersed with the twists and turns of the events leading up to Bloody Sunday. Director and producer Mike McHugh uses original television material recovered from archives, some of which is exceedingly rare: for example, color footage of the riot on Magilligan strand which shows paratroopers beating civil rights marchers one week before Bloody Sunday took place.
Lord Saville, on announcing the calling of Tereshchuk as a witness, notes that “reporters make exceedingly good witnesses,” a comment that starts to unnerve the veteran journalist, because he begins to wonder just how accurate his memory is.
One of Tereshchuk’s greatest regrets is that on Bloody Sunday he had initially assessed the Derry situation as largely peaceful and so told his television crew to stay away from the march. He went along with only a notepad and pen, only to be caught up in the mayhem of shooting and dying.
Vividly, he remembers seeing a paratrooper kneel on one knee and fire at the crowd while wearing the unmistakable red beret of the Parachute Regiment. Yet photographs show soldiers only wearing helmets at the point where he remembered that flash of red headgear.
Was his memory at fault? McHugh skillfully moves Tereshchuk’s memories around this and other complex issues relating to the day. He made the documentary after hearing Tereshchuk tell that he had been summoned: his testifying offered a unique moment in time, which McHugh seized. McHugh, who’s from New Jersey, said the experience of making the documentary also opened up new perspectives on his Irish heritage and the complexities of Irish history.
And this movie opens up new, complex angles on Bloody Sunday, a point reinforced when Tereshchuk meets Bloody Sunday historian Don Mullen. The pair discuss the day and decide that as the bullets were flying, they must have been in close proximity for some minutes: both witnessed the bloody mayhem that occurred around Rossville Flats.
In the movie, Mullen says that it is exceedingly important for the families of the victims and the people of Derry that Tereshchuk testified and did so with his British accent: for once, that accent is bearing witness on behalf of the victims, and not the shooters. For anyone familiar with Northern Ireland’s accents, the juxtaposition of an English tone with those of Derry is a constant reminder of the issues of difference, identity and how they clashed during the Troubles. All too frequently, English accents spoke the brute force of the British army, or the dispassionate tones of the BBC.
“Not until Don said that, did the story unravel on a new and complex level for me,” said McHugh, who’s an Irish American from New Jersey. The documentary leaves some loose ends too, he added.
“David could have remained very British,” McHugh said, referring to Tereshchuk’s processing of what he witnessed on the day. “And Don says he could have gone towards the IRA.”
This is a unique perspective of Bloody Sunday, and of the complexities of memory and bearing witness. McHugh, who made it on a small budget with his wife Kathleen, has produced a documentary with the highest production values, one hour and 17 minutes of tightly woven yet smooth story telling.
Unfortunately, said McHugh, the film will not be seen by the general public until he has secured a distributor for it — to date, it has been seen only in private screenings, most recently in Derry City last week, where he said it received a warm welcome from relatives of the victims.
“We are trying to push hard with HBO, CBS and the BBC,” McHugh said. “Maybe by January or February we’ll have a distributor.”
McHugh and his wife formed a company, Grace Pictures, for the making of “An Unreliable Witness.” They hope that it will be shown at the Tribeca, Berlin and Sundance film festivals, as well as other events.
Anyone seeking information on the film may contact Michael McHugh at McHugh1@mac.net. McHugh has found the experience of making “An Unreliable Witness” to be profound. Visiting Ireland, he said, and reconnecting with his Irish heritage, has “taught me… to listen, and learn, don’t ever think you fully understand it. And hope for peace.”