Hush-a-Bye Baby

A delightful film from the Derry film and Video Collective, about the lives of four working class convent school chums, one of whom (played by the excellent McCourt) forms a romantic affair - consolidated during an evening Irish class - with a boy who is later detained by the British Army. Something of an exemplar of low-budget, locality-based film-making, the film homesstraight in on the realities of its protagonists' lives, engaging such issues as adolescence, the British prescence, isolation and abortion through finely observed and finely played details in their daily lives. Its vigour, clarity and compassion make the sad predicament of McCourt's heroine all the more moving. Sinead O'Connor has a cameo and provides an excellent music soundtrack.