This film is part of Free

Seventh Angel

It was a day like any other for Percy Faith until he hears a voice he’ll never forget.

Amateur film 1962 10 mins

From the collection of:

Logo for Northern Ireland Screen

Overview

Has Judgement Day finally come to Belfast in this apocalyptic delight by Archie Reid? An ordinary man begins and average day until something catches his eye in the newspaper. An urgent mission is thrust upon him by a mysterious voice on the phone. Politician, priest or protestor who will listen to his prophecy?

Archie Reid captures a glimpse of Northern Ireland’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament movement during the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Polaris was the UK’s first submarine based nuclear weapons system, announced the same year this film was created. Protesters successfully campaigned against plans to build the nuclear submarines in the Belfast shipyards; instead construction took place in England. It was fully replaced by the equally controversial Trident system in 1996. The US consulate in Belfast was often the focus of anti-war demonstrations, from Vietnam to Iraq. The consulate has since moved out of the city centre and is now tucked away from demonstrators in the suburbs of south Belfast.