Gerry Adams, ein Veteran der irischen Politik, reflektiert über 60 Jahre Nordirland-Aktivismus, in dem er viele Rollen spielte, vom Strafgefangenen bis zum Staatsmann. Viele Jahre war er Parteivorsitzender von Sinn Féin und dabei maßgeblich am Friedensprozess beteiligt. Die Geschichte Nordirlands spiegelt sich in Adams Leben. 1981, auf dem Höhepunkt des Nordirlandkonflikts, traf Adams traf die Engländerin Trisha Ziff, eine kommunistische Aktivistin und Gründerin der "Camerawork Derry”-Gruppe. Über 40 Jahre blieb er mit ihr in Kontakt. Der Film kombiniert Interviews mit Bildern und Filmausschnitten, von denen viele nie zuvor zu sehen waren. Zu hören sind Adams’ unzensierte Perspektiven auf den Konflikt, ein Leben zwischen Krieg und dem Übergang zum Frieden und die anhaltenden Bemühungen um eine irische Einheit.

Gerry Adams is one of the most controversial leaders of our time, he led his community in the North of Ireland from conflict to peace. Adams was a critical voice in the decision taken by the IRA to lay down their arms after their 25-year war against the British. Imprisoned and shot, he was demonised and censored by dominant media as a subversive and terrorist, yet the British and their allies were forced to recognise his legitimacy and negotiate with him and Sinn Féin, the Irish peace accord, ‘The Good Friday Agreement’. A private man, this is the first time, Adams sits down to tell his story, from a teenage activist to party leader. Today, he is an elder statesman supporting the next generations on their path toward Irish unity.

Early in the film, Adams asserts that “politics is not worth anything unless it empowers people”. Over the next two hours, that is confirmed as a guiding philosophy for someone who has always displayed the courage of his convictions and taken action when he sees injustice and oppression. A Ballymurphy Man traces the evolution of Adams’ political beliefs, but also provides some insight into his personal life. He recalls family life in the late 1940s and ’50s with portraits of relatives and places that feel positively Dickensian. He pays tribute to the influence of his grandmother, a millworker who introduced Adams to the joys of reading and the importance of education. He was just 15 when he read the Special Powers Act of 1922, which granted the authorities extensive controls to maintain peace and order. Adams’ childhood and adolescence were lived in a Northern Ireland that he came to view as a land colonised by an England that pursued a policy of divide and rule. Dehumanising the population, labelling them barbarians in need of civilisation and denying human rights are moves repeated throughout history and acutely familiar from conflicts that still rage around the world. His analysis allows us to comprehend why his life has been devoted to the “reconquest of Ireland by the people who live here”. Adams’ story is illustrated by a feast of archive footage that includes photos from his family albums, home movies and extensive use of reporting on what became known as the Troubles. Evocative black-and-white images of communities under siege, barricaded areas of Belfast, British troops on the streets, curfews and resistance convey the reality of a world that Adams compares to Apocalypse Now. The film won Best International Documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh 2025.