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By Jonathan Cullen
The upcoming documentary Building A Village received its world premiere at The Playhouse in Derry at an event highlighting the film’s themes of community and connection.
The premiere, on the second anniversary celebrations for community group Derry Meet Ups, also marked the group’s rebranding as Clann&Co as the community organisation hopes to expand. Building A Village showed founder Cassie Jane as well as facilitators/eventrunners, venue owners and members talking of their experiences within the group. Derry Meet Ups brings people together through various events including surfing, food meets, Irish gaelige nights and offline cafes, where the use of phones and other screens are banned.
Building A Village also shows why community and connection is so badly needed in Derry in 2026. The Foyle constituency has the highest number of people suffering from loneliness in Northern Ireland at 25.6% and the lowest index of life satisfaction at 32.4 percent.
It comes at a time when community funding within Northern Ireland has been slashed by nearly 65% from £25 million to £9.2 million in what the government has called “a transition year”.
Derry City & Strabane District Council mayor, Ruiari McHugh paid tribute to the work that Derry Meet Ups achieved in its first two years. He reiterated the importance of the work groups like it and others such as The Walled City Social did in the region.
“What Derry Meet Ups has shown is that community can be rebuilt, connection can be nurtured and even small consistent efforts – a small conversation, a walk, a shared moment – can have a listing impact on people’s lives,” Mr McHugh said.
Building A Village is directed, written, produced and edited by NWRC journalism student, Jonathan Cullen, who also features as a subject. It is executive produced by NWRC journalism lecturer, Jonathan Millar and co-produced by NWRC students, Ellie Rigby, Joshua Kingh and Ronan O’Donnell.
Building A Village releases online on YouTube on May 5. A trailer for the documentary film is available at: https://youtu.be/df9VyHl9mDo?si=1-dLhdxQGYFqLNr7
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By Jonathan Cullen The upcoming documentary Building A Village received its world premiere at The Playhouse in Derry at an event highlighting the film’s themes of community and connection. The premiere, on the second anniversary celebrations for community group Derry Meet Ups, also marked the group’s rebranding as Clann&Co as the community organisation hopes to
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