406 Days - The Debenhams Picket Line

Ireland, 2023

Joe Lee’s enthralling, important film documents a recent moment in Ireland’s political history. In April 2020, with the country entering lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, Debenhams permanently closed its stores in Ireland, sacked its staff by generic email and reneged on promised union negotiated redundancy packages. The mostly female workforce refused to take this lying down, and embarked on what was to become the longest industrial dispute in Ireland’s history. Packed with first hand accounts and precious detail, 406 Days - The Debenhams Picket Line is a testament to the tenacity of the workers and was justly showered with awards when it premiered at the Dublin Film Festival this year.