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Newry Artist Seán Hillen will tomorrow perhaps hit the largest stage of his career to date when a film documentary about his life will be available for viewing on Netflix!
'Tomorrow is Saturday' is an intimate, fascinating portrait of Newry born collage artist Sean Hillen – a brilliant, complex, unruly mind, hemmed in behind a lifetime’s collection of hoarded junk, unfinished art and precious memories at his tiny Dublin terraced home. The production will be on Netflix from Saturday 17 December.
Born in Newry in 1961 and growing up during the troubles, Seán's photography was a way of getting through that time while keeping him from getting deeply involved as a player in the conflict. Discussing growing up in Newry the film shows some heartwarming old footage of the time. Speaking of his wonderfully titled 1993 collage 'Sister Faustina Appears in Londonewry' he fondly remembers his granny having two hobbies "she had these two hobbies, one of which was the Daily Mail crossword and the other was picking people out of the phonebook and sending them holy pictures" Sister Faustina was one of her favourites for her holy picture mission so it was most appropriate that she was the nun to appear in the collage.
Who can forget his famous 'Newry Gagarin' collage with two men sat on the bench at Sugar Island in Newry while the British Soldier stands alongside while also looking as if he is totally separate from the scene. Or 'The Great Pyramids of Carlingford Lough' the only artwork that has ever upstaged the magnificant Flagstaff Viewpoint in Newry. It even made its way on to an album cover.
Seán is excited at what the Netflix exposure will lead to and expresses his gratitude to the film maker. Commenting on his Facebook page he said "Forever grateful to ‘Tomorrow Is Saturday’ film-maker Gillian Marsh, and all the crew, for telling my story so deftly.
"It’s been many months since the first full crew appeared at my door during lockdown; and after 29 shooting days, quite a few Film Festivals and some amazing awards, ‘Tomorrow Is Saturday’ is now headed to Netflix. Excited for this next chapter."
The film was selected for the Galway Film Fleadh when it first was launched, has toured internationally in Washington, Chicago and even Russia. Closer to home it was awarded Best Factual Feature at the 2022 Irish Royal Television Awards. It even saw its first Irish showing in Newry in August as part of Iúr Cinn Fleadh.
Diagnosed with Aspergers in his late 50s, Sean, the most heavily censored artist to come out of Ireland or Britain, has reached the point where his mental state and physical surroundings had brought his creativity to a halt.
Trapped in a tiny terraced house, full to the brim with junk, unfinished art and boxes of memories, Tomorrow is Saturday shows Sean embarks on a journey to declutter and make sense of his life as he waits the arrival of his beloved Amy – an American woman with whom he communicates daily, but has yet to meet.
Here he lives, sleeping on an unusable sofa bed in the living room, with barely enough space to move; a shrine on the wall to Amy, the paramour he has so far only communicated with online.
At age 17, he began to document what he saw, photographing images considered at that time to be too stark and raw for publication. Bitterly disappointed, he threw the negatives into a plastic bag where they remained for over a decade before being resurrected for an exhibition in the National Library of Ireland.
This collection - ‘Melancholy Witness’ - is a valuable record of a time that Ireland has struggled to come to terms with. Now, we bring this body of work to a new generation for whom the Troubles that shaped this island have had little relevance.
Since his time at art college in London, Sean has exhibited widely in museums and galleries north and south of the border. As a complex and subversive social commentator, his compulsion to ‘fix the world through art’ would lead to IRELANTIS (1994-1997) - a playful photomontage series using John Hinde postcards to poke fun at Irish mythology.
Seán's lifetime of collages, photographs and books can be seen at seanhillen.com where you can also purchase artwork.
Tomorrow is Saturday was produced by GMARSHTV Productions in association with RTÉ and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Executive Producer for RTÉ Ray McCarthy Directed by Gillian Marsh and Gretta Ohle Produced by Mairead Tucker.
Read an interview with Gillian Marsh speaking about the production on Totally Dublin
