Irish film-maker Treasa O’Brien has created a valuable and empathic documentary essay project about history, memory and community; it is executive produced by The Act of Killing’s Josh Oppenheimer, whose influence is detectable in one verbatim-cinema-type “dream re-enactment” scene (although I must say that this is the one creative avenue that doesn’t really go anywhere).
Town of Strangers is set in the town of Gort in County Galway, perhaps best known for being the site of Coole House, the home of Lady Gregory and the Irish literary revival of Yeats, Synge, O’Casey and Shaw. None of that is mentioned, however: O’Brien focuses on its 21st-century distinction of having Ireland’s highest percentage of migrants. O’Brien auditions for people to come and be involved in her documentary, and these “audition” scenes evolve into being the central part of the film itself: where people simply talk about their lives, where they’ve come from and what they expect of Gort. We hear from Brazilian people, Syrian people, Afghan people, Irish Travellers and English hippies.
