Dragon’s Teeth (21’)
Dragon’s Teeth is an experimental documentary made in context of the Reel Borders projects.
During the project’s fieldwork phase at the Irish border, themes of memory, trauma, and postconflict reconciliation often resurfaced. The Northern Irish border region of South-Armagh for example, saw some of the conflict’s most violent escalations as paramilitarily groups and the British military were caught in a brutal tug-of-war. While the 1998 Good Frida Agreements set forward the end of the military occupation (with the last British soldier leaving in 2007) and brought an end to the island’s hard border, remnants of the past are stil scattered around the landscape. Although devoid of clear visual indication or material manifestation, the border and its violent histories remain ever-present amidst the divide communities of Northern Ireland. Security and surveillance infrastructure still fill the are with a sense of unease. Flags, curb stones, and murals of the region’s rivalling loyalist and republican community groups emphasis that the past is all but forgotten. The anxieties aroun Brexit and the potential return of a hard border further highlight how the colonial legacy o Northern Ireland still casts a long shadow over the borderlands.
Building on my work on the ambiguities of remembering in Norther Ireland’s visual cultur (Soberon 2024 & Smets; Soberon, 2025), Dragon’s Teeth poetically discusses the unseen yet affectively felt power of the past. The film tells the story of Bessbrook Mill, an old linen mill that became the largest military base and heliport in Northern Ireland. Once a site associate with colonial violence, the fort now stands derelict as it awaits repurposing. As Newry Cit Council has repeatedly mentioned their plans to renovate the fort into a luxury housin complex – including shopping mall – there’s a concern that the forces of gentrification stand to efface the histories this place symbolises. Dragon’s Teeth seeks to address such spatia complexities through a hauntological exploration of Northern Ireland’s landscapes and the remnants of its silenced past. As a ghostly presence is awoken by the fort’s construction work, the borders between past and present, fact and fiction, start to blur.
Soberon, L., & Smets, K. (2024). Backroads into buried pasts: Irish border mobilities and narrative film. Irish Studies Review, 32(4), 481-503.
Soberon, L. (2025). Navigating the troubles’ tidelands: the push and pull of memory in post-conflict northern Ireland’s film & television industry. Cultural Studies, 1-31.
Festival screenings & accolades:
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During the project’s fieldwork phase at the Irish border, themes of memory, trauma, and postconflict reconciliation often resurfaced. The Northern Irish border region of South-Armagh for example, saw some of the conflict’s most violent escalations as paramilitarily groups and the British military were caught in a brutal tug-of-war. While the 1998 Good Frida Agreements set forward the end of the military occupation (with the last British soldier leaving in 2007) and brought an end to the island’s hard border, remnants of the past are stil scattered around the landscape. Although devoid of clear visual indication or material manifestation, the border and its violent histories remain ever-present amidst the divide communities of Northern Ireland. Security and surveillance infrastructure still fill the are with a sense of unease. Flags, curb stones, and murals of the region’s rivalling loyalist and republican community groups emphasis that the past is all but forgotten. The anxieties aroun Brexit and the potential return of a hard border further highlight how the colonial legacy o Northern Ireland still casts a long shadow over the borderlands.
Building on my work on the ambiguities of remembering in Norther Ireland’s visual cultur (Soberon 2024 & Smets; Soberon, 2025), Dragon’s Teeth poetically discusses the unseen yet affectively felt power of the past. The film tells the story of Bessbrook Mill, an old linen mill that became the largest military base and heliport in Northern Ireland. Once a site associate with colonial violence, the fort now stands derelict as it awaits repurposing. As Newry Cit Council has repeatedly mentioned their plans to renovate the fort into a luxury housin complex – including shopping mall – there’s a concern that the forces of gentrification stand to efface the histories this place symbolises. Dragon’s Teeth seeks to address such spatia complexities through a hauntological exploration of Northern Ireland’s landscapes and the remnants of its silenced past. As a ghostly presence is awoken by the fort’s construction work, the borders between past and present, fact and fiction, start to blur.
Reference:
Soberon, L., & Smets, K. (2024). Backroads into buried pasts: Irish border mobilities and narrative film. Irish Studies Review, 32(4), 481-503.
Soberon, L. (2025). Navigating the troubles’ tidelands: the push and pull of memory in post-conflict northern Ireland’s film & television industry. Cultural Studies, 1-31.
Festival screenings & accolades:
-
Belfast Film Festival 2024 (Northern Ireland, UK) – national premiere
-
Offscreen Film Festival 2025 (Belgium) – national premiere
-
Galway Film Fleadh 2025 (Ireland) – European premiere
- Short to the Point festival 2025 (Romania, online) – Documentary of the month award
- Close:Up Edinburgh Docfest 2025 (Scotland, UK) – Finalist best experimental documentary
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Funded by the European Research Council.
Starting Grant #948278
The Reel Borders logo is designed by Joris Bochman
The Reel Borders website was built by Irene Gutiérrez and Silvia Almenara-Niebla
Starting Grant #948278
The Reel Borders logo is designed by Joris Bochman
The Reel Borders website was built by Irene Gutiérrez and Silvia Almenara-Niebla
