The 8th

The 8th is not the documentation of a referendum, it is the account of a struggle. Following the crucial weeks leading up to the 2018 vote to repeal the Irish constitution’s eighth amendment, which effectively criminalised abortion, The 8th is a deftly crafted exploration of oppression and emancipation, of dignity and autonomy wrested from authority’s hands.

This is a film that is predicated on fierce direct action and tireless organising, a human rights triumph that was screamed and ached for. Every scene is rooted in this sense of a conflict fought and won: activists argue with anti-abortion onlookers, furious protest signs facing off against gruesome billboards, while a pro-choice mural is painted and then painted over. There is a breathless sense of movement throughout, as contemporary footage is intercut with historic travesties caused by the amendment, from the recent discovery of children’s remains in Catholic mother and baby homes to the horrifying case of Savita Halappanavar, who died from a septic miscarriage in 2012.

Directors Aideen Kane, Maeve O'Boyle, and Lucy Kennedy achieve a poignant sense of intimacy as well as rousing anger, foregrounding the communities of solidarity and care that have been carved out amid the state’s violence. In a decade of paralysing political setbacks, The 8th acts as a stirring reminder of what can be achieved, and the work that still – always – needs to be done.