Poignant, revealing, and ultimately beautiful, ‘Nothing Compares’ takes out the best documentary at this year’s British Independent Film Awards.
Nothing Compares, which was released in October to positive reviews, has taken home two of the most prestigious awards at this year’s British Independent Film Awards.
Belfast film director Kathryn Ferguson has won Best Debut Director, and Best Documentary for her powerful film about one of the most famous Irish singer-songwriters of this generation, Sinead O’Conner.
Ferguson takes a deep dive into the six years between 1987 (when her debut album The Lion and the Cobra was released) and 1993, and covers some of O’Connor’s most iconic moments caught on film, in particular, the Capella version of Bob Marley’s War on October 3, 1992, before she shocked watchers the world over by producing a photo of then Pope John Paul II, and then goes on to tear the photo into pieces, saying “fight the real enemy”, and theatrically throws the torn photo at the camera.
The infamous incident provoked rage from the industry elite, Frank Sinatra threatened to “kick her in the ass” and Saturday Night Live host Joe Pesci told the live audience that if it had happened on his show, “I would have given her such a smack…I would have grabbed her by her eyebrows”.
Mixed with a collection of emotional and provocative archival footage mixed with modern-day interviews with those who were there, including O’Connor herself. “Everybody felt it was OK to kick the shit out of me,” she heart-wrenchingly recalls, before defiantly adding, “I regret that I was so sad because of it.”
Nothing compares is now streaming on Paramount Plus, and available to rent or purchase on Google Play and Amazon.
