The Glasgow Miracle:

Materials for Alternative Histories

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Reference Number:

TE2/1976/50

Garnethill Convent of Mercy 1976 (Part 1)

Some interviews such as the nuns in the Convent of Mercy and Mrs Gallagher were done in situ while others were conducted in a still unidentified room. It’s still unclear what the films were used for – there was a vox pop element to the exhibition where visitors could enter a specially built booth in the gallery and tape whatever they wanted to say. These surviving films do not seem to be from that source and whether they were ever shown in the exhibition or used around it in some way is still unknown.

Date Recorded: 1976

Length: 59 min, 06 sec

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Additional Information

Conversational interview. Begins with a handheld camera zoomed in on the face of an elderly nun with glasses. The tracking cuts out the picture for a moment, then revealing a room with floral wallpaper in a wider angle. In the room with the nun is a man with an American accent conducting the interview off right, and a woman with a Scottish accent off left. The elderly nun speaks and answers questions about the history of the Convent, her childhood, her life and the taking of vows. The film is done in one continuous shot with zooms, stopping to focus on the elderly nun's hands on her lap and a crucifix in the room. More tracking issues cut out the picture entirely from the 17 min, 53 sec to 12 min, 12 sec mark, though sound resumes. Ends on a drop in conversation about the woman who founded this Order of nuns, a close-up of a hand-drawn print of this woman on the wall as the footage cuts.