John T. Davis: Tailwind 
John T. Davis is internationally recognised as Northern Ireland’s most distinctive documentary filmmaker and cinematographer.
To mark his 70th birthday in March, and in recognition of his over 40 years of filmmaking, QFT is mounting a retrospective of his work.
Tailwind documents the little known history of Northern Ireland’s crucial part in the war in the air between 1939 and 1945. At the outbreak of the Second World War there were just three airfields in Ulster - within 18 months there were 26. Aircrew and support staff from every Allied nation descended on the Province to prepare themselves, and their aircraft, for the conflict. The story is told by participants - in their eighties and nineties at the time of filming - from Ireland, England, Canada, the United States, Poland and New Zealand. Their personal accounts are intercut with archival footage, popular music from the 1930s and 40s, and Adrian Dunbar’s evocative narration. Eloquent, poignant, dramatic and poetic, Tailwind pays moving tribute to the courageous airmen and women who served in Northern Ireland’s war effort.
The screening will be introduced by John T. Davis.
Part Two of Peripheral Visions: John T. Davis, A Retrospective also includes:
Hip to the Tip - Atlantic, The Independent Years
Discover more about the work of John T. Davis here.
This season is presented in partnership with Film Hub NI. Special thanks to Northern Ireland Screen, the Irish Film Institute, Peter Strain and Yellowmoon.
