Saga Torkelson

Mind Your Head

Ethnic Irish group Travellers are seven times more likely than the average person to take their own life. Shot over three years, McDonagh and Torkelson's documentary follows the challenges faced by Irish Traveller Andy Spoore on his journey to recovery. It considers the impacts of trauma generated through needless repetition of lived experience, the consequences of being made to feel ashamed and the barriers that prevent access to proper support. McDonagh and Torkelson seek to articulate solutions and assess societal reforms through the lens of criminal justice, medicine and community. The goal of the film is to save one life, saving two would be priceless.