Blind Justice is a series of four films on “Women and the Law. ‘Some Protection is an animated documentary, based on true story of Josie O’Dwyer and using her voice as personal commentry, the film shows the devastating effect that detention and imprisonment have on young girls, who are sent in “for their own protection”.
A film by Marjut Rimminen
9 minutes, 16mm, 1987
Credits:
Research: Gail Pearce
Design: Marjut Rimminen
Animation: Marjut Rimminen
Assistant Animation: Kathleen Houston
Painting: Adrian Kern, Vanessa Luther-Smith, Debra Thaine, Stoney Parsons
Rostrum Camera: Heather Reader
Editing & Sound: Picturehead Production
Narration: Josie O’Dwyer
Voices: David Goodland, Jaqueline Holborough, Josie O’Dwyer
Directed by Marjut Rimminen
Produced by Orly Yadin
A Smoothcloud Production for Channel Four Television
Distribution: www.yadinproductions.com
To view:
Awards:
FINALIST for Best Film and FINALIST for Best Sound Track at the 1988 British Animation Awards
WRITTEN ABOUT THE FILM:
“The final film (in the Blind Justice series), Some Protection by Marjut Rimminen, would attract the most accolades. Based on a true story of one of Josie O’Dwyer, whose life was devastated by a legal system which had put her into detention for her ‘own protection’, the film gains immeasurably from the damaged voice of Dwyer herself on the sountrack and the variety of visual styles expressing the girl’s emotional states.” Clare Kitson, British animation: The Channel 4 factor
The animation genre, often using real, first-person narratives, had I believe first been seen in the UK with Colin Thomas and Bill Mather’s pioneering work for the BBC on Animated Conversations and continued with Aardman’s Conversation Pieces. While Aardman gradually moved into the comedy arena, the journalistic baton was taken up by Marjut Rimminen with Some Protection (1987, for Paul Madden) and, later, by several filmmakers under my watch. Silence (about the holocaust survivor), A is for Autism and Abductees (alien abductions) all crammed more emotional truth about their protagonists into 11-minute running time than one would expect to find in a standard halfhour documentary. Clare Kitson, British animation: The Channel 4 factor, chapter ‘Missionary Zeal…’
Some Protection “… an exciting new form of creative ‘documentary’ … innovative in its approach to the subject!” Women & Animation, ed. Jayne Pilling, British Film Institute
“The impact of Some Protection, (Marjut Rimminen) contribution to Blind Justice, a forceful new series of films about women and the law, owes much to her ability to evoke visually and kinetically the moods, emotions and feelings of the protagonist, Josie O’Dwyer, as she narrates the true story of her experiences of detention and imprisonment.” James Leahy, The Guardian, 5 Nov 1987
“Rather than portraying O’Dwyer’s story in a ‘passive’ manner, trying to retain its authensity (read as:truth), the film invites us to take part in O’Dwyer’s sufferings – and therefore portrays the truth of how a prison sentance can be perceived. During the nine minutes of film, we not only get acquainted with the story of one woman; it also offers a look into a bigger social problem – the destructive effect of the prison system.” Tonje Bjander, Animerte Dager 1999
“ It is widely assumed that documentary is about Griersonian grit, Flaherty fact and Wiseman wisdom, but this is to neglect the rich and varied tradition of documentary in the animated film. From Winsor McCay’s ground-breaking Sinking of the Lusitania, to Marjut Rimminen’s subjective documentary Some Protection, to Jan Svankmajers’s fantastic documentary The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia. Animation has documented the personal, social and political events that have shaped the world.” Dr. Paul Wells, National Film Theatre lecture November 1996
“ Some Protection elokuvasta on tullut lähes animaatioiden klassikko ja sitä esitetään Lontoossa dokumenttielokuvien seminaareissa esimerkkinä siitä mihin animaatioelokuva voi yltää.” Kirsi Riipinen, Kotiliesi 4.10.1996
The film is included in the Clare Kitson’s book “British animation: The Channel 4 factor” Parliament Hill Publishing
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