Troubles victims activist rounds on media for 'efforts to mainstream' west Belfast rap trio Kneecap - who are known for violent republican iconography

The film was produced by NI journalist Trevor Birney and directed by English former tabloid reporter Rich Peppiatt, a philosophy and literature graduate who went on to join the Daily Star and later admitted to making up news stories.

The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, and Sony has now bought international distribution rights.

The BBC has devoted a string of clips and articles to the film and the group in the past week: "Kneecap – Northern Ireland’s rapping sensation", "Scene Spotlight on Kneecap's feature film debut", "Kneecap, Irish Language and Rap at Sundance", "Kneecap film: Sony Pictures acquire rights for major release", and "Kneecap film: Irish language rappers head stateside for Sundance".

The band also appeared in a Radio 6 Music broadcast (though this episode is "not currently available").

The last of the above BBC articles (highlighted in bold italics) was written by reporter Matt Fox.

It featured quotes from Peppiatt in which he says he "wasn't aware of a community of Belfast young people 'who were living their lives through the Irish language... and to me that was really interesting with the backdrop of the Irish Language Act and Stormont being collapsed, I just thought there was a really interesting synergy between those two things'."

It also quotes the director as saying: "Kneecap are decisive [sic], maybe unfairly so.

"As a band [they] have caused a lot of controversy because they are very head-on and pull no punches on giving their opinion and view on the past and the future direction of travel here.

"If we were going to make this film we said we'd do it in a way that was true to that spirit, really being very honest and representing a viewpoint of young people that is often pushed aside amid DUP and Sinn Féin arguments.

"Yes, it does say some things that nobody else has dared to say, and say them in controversial and challenging ways, but that's what art is about."

• WHY ARE PEOPLE UPSET WITH KNEECAP?

The BBC article highlighted above says that "the three-piece have faced disapproval and censorship for their politically-charged lyrics and ease with controversy", but did not then say any of the things which the group is controversial for.

These have included:

Promotional material featuring a police officer tied to a chair while one of the group stands next to him wielding a nail-studded hurling stick;

A poster for their "farewell to the union tour" featuring Arlene Foster being burned on a bonfire;

Their repeated references to the PSNI as "the RUC", even though the RUC has not existed throughout most of the band members' lives;

Murals and associated merchandise featuring a police Land Rover in flames, and another saying "England get out of Ireland";

Chanting "Brits out" at a concert in The Empire, Belfast;

Having a gig in Dublin cancelled midway through due to the audience chanting "up the Ra";

Issuing tweets referring to "RUC scum", attacking the queen for overseeing "dozens of wars & deaths of millions", posting a picture of a guillotine on the eve of the King's coronation, quoting from IRA man Bobby Sands, appearing alongside Gerry Adams in a video to promote a gig, and writing that "wherever and whenever you see occupation forces or colonialism resist it by every means necessary – Free Palestine".

• MAINSTREAMING OF GROUP ‘DEPRESSING’: KENNY DONALDSON

Kenny Donaldson, the director of the charity South East Fermanagh Foundation, which lobbies for victims and survivors of the Troubles and their relatives, told the News Letter:"This group may think they're clever in having connected with anti-establishment, anti-British and anti-Israeli sentiment, offering some form of new medium for such views to be vented.

"But the truth is that they represent more of the tired old ways of misrepresenting issues and of grooming the minds of impressionable and vulnerable young people.

"Where we will agree with them is that they're not on their own, and there do exist people within the political and civic sectors who revel in dividing and conquering people, of promoting fear and encouraging intolerance, mistrust and hate.

"But what is depressing is the positioning of this group by others who are legitimising the messages being conveyed through their expressions of 'art'.

"For monies captured through the public purse to be invested in promoting their worldview and for film festivals to cite and shortlist their efforts has the impact of mainstreaming their pronouncements."

According to The Times, some £1.5m in public money was given over to the Kneecap movie, in the form of £760,000 from Northern Ireland Screen and £775,000 from the National Lottery via the British Film Institute.

It is understood money can be recouped if and when the film turns a profit.

The Times article also included criticism of Kneecap from ex-Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers, in which she said: “This is an unjustified use of public and lottery money. I was shocked to hear that projects relating to this group have received such large sums.

"They are entitled to express their views, but public money should not be squandered on those who appear to be taking such a hardline approach and promoting division."

It also quoted Ian Paisley as saying: Paisley Jr said: “These young men in the rap group should be taken to meet with the children whose fathers and mothers were killed by the IRA.

"They should be asked to meet with the misters who lost sons and women who lost husbands to IRA violence.”

• ‘IF YOU ARE OFFENDED YOU ARE MISSING THE JOKE’

The News Letter had put some of the recent heavy criticism of the group to its management in Ireland, the UK and America (where the group is currently touring), as well as via the Kneecap website, but at time of writing no response had been received.

In interviews, the group has denied being sectarian.

In a recent BBC one, Moglai Bap said: "There's a lot of playfulness and a lot fun and craic, if you're offended by it then you're just not getting the joke…

"It's very easy for politicians to go to a paper and give a quote about what they think we're doing, we didn't establish sectarianism and we're not fuelling it either.

"We're not creating art for controversy's sake, we live in a place where people are quite easily offended by certain topics.

"We don't set out for that, it's the same thing when you're speaking the Irish language in the north, that it's [perceived as] some sort of political statement.

"But we're just trying to build a youth culture around the language."

In response to a negative article in the Daily Mail this week, the group tweeted out: “We only need to be lucky once” – a reference to the claim of responsibility issued by the IRA in the wake of the Brighton bombing, which killed five people.

They added: “We arrived in Utah on Thursday and in the 5 days since… Premiered at Sundance, Sold out movie to Sony, Drove an armoured Peeler jeep about, Got 100% on rotten, But the best past of the last 5 days… Pissing off the Daily Mail.”

The group also said: “We’ve been told by a Times journalist that Ian Paisley Junior will be writing to the British government because he is ‘appalled’ our movie was made. He has also said our families and schools have ‘failed to raise us with a sense of decency and respect’…

"You can inform the DUP that we will put on a private screening for them in Belfast, in an Orange lodge of their choice. We will send popcorn and fizzy drinks too, all on us. Grá mor [big love].”

Meanwhile the BBC, when asked why it had not gone into detail about Kneecap’s controversies in the Matt Fox report, and how the group could be described as having faced "censorship", replied: “Our report describes the making of this film and its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

"It acknowledges how Kneecap have been controversial and includes links to related BBC reports.”

Meanwhile NI Screen was quoted as telling the Belfast Telegraph: “The film Kneecap was never going to be universally celebrated in Northern Ireland, but NI Screen must consistently apply its assessment criteria.

"Against our criteria, Kneecap is performing strongly, already attracting very positive international reviews at its world premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

Meanwhile NI Screen was quoted as telling the Belfast Telegraph: “The film Kneecap was never going to be universally celebrated in Northern Ireland, but NI Screen must consistently apply its assessment criteria,” said a spokesperson.

"Against our criteria, Kneecap is performing strongly, already attracting very positive international reviews at its world premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

"NI Screen is committed to supporting independent film production in Northern Ireland as an integral sector within the screen industry here.

"It also has a stated objective to support vibrant and diverse cultural voices that are recognised and celebrated equally at home and abroad.

"Our assessment of the project placed considerable weight on the other strong national and international funding attached including an experienced international sales agent (Charades), UK and Ireland distributors Curzon and Wildcard as well as backing from the British Film Institute, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, TG4 and Great Point Media.”