Filming is underway in Belfast and the Republic of Ireland for Good Vibrations, a new movie about the life of Belfast music legend Terri Hooley.
The film stars Richard Dormer as Hooley alongside Jodie Whittaker, Liam Cunningham, Dylan Moran and Adrian Dunbar
Hooley (Dormer) is a radical, rebel and music-lover in 1970s Belfast. When the Troubles shut down his city his friends take sides and take up arms, or leave the country.
But Terri decides to open a record shop on the most bombed half-mile in Europe and call it Good Vibrations. It’s a gesture of defiance – but it seems no-one cares.
The shop begins to attract a motley band of mouthy kids with a love of loud music and nowhere else to go: Belfast punks. When Terri hears the punk bands play, he hears the lost spirit of his city.
Terri has found a mission. He needs to get this music and this energy heard in an outside world that’s written off Belfast. With these bands, he has a shot at resurrecting the city he loves, through the most powerful force he knows: music.
Terri and his young punk protégés struggle against the myriad dark forces of the Troubles, and Terri’s own particular urge toward self-destruction, in a bid to create an alternative Ulster, to bring Belfast back to life.
The film is being financed by BBC Films, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board, Northern Ireland Screen, BBC Northern Ireland, Immaculate Conception Films, Matador Pictures and Cinema One.
Producers Andrew Eaton and Chris Martin said: “We are absolutely delighted to see this project come to fruition. To be able to tell the story of Belfast’s godfather of punk, Terri Hooley, and to carry forward the resilience and spirit that was shown throughout the 70’s and 80’s Good Vibrations era.
“This ethos and spirit has been a major driving force in what we have done and will do as a production.”
