Ross McClean
United Kingdom, United States | 2025 | 14 min
World premiere
Language : English
Subtitles : French, English
On a clear night in Belfast, two workmen and their apprentice work methodically to change the city’s streetlights from orange sodium to white LED. As the night progresses, a city searching for clarity starts to come into focus.
On a clear night in Belfast, two municipal workers and their young apprentice make their way through the city, replacing its streetlights. Lagging behind the rest of the UK, Belfast is slowly transitioning from warm, amber sodium lamps to colder, starker LEDs. The delay seems emblematic of the city’s uneasy relationship with change. From the cab of the three protagonists’ service truck, this comedic journey takes us on a night-time tour of Belfast’s varied neighbourhoods: past rowdy groups of young revellers, a concerned resident of an upscale district fretting over the ecological impact of the new lights, and a crowd gathering for the traditional lighting of the Loyalist bonfires. No Mean City is part of a broader cinematic project in which each filmmaker explores an element from the periodic table. Taking sodium as his starting point, Ross McClean has crafted a dazzling portrait of a city caught between the weight of its traditions and the pulse of its youthful, forward-looking energy.
Aurélien Marsais
Aurélien Marsais
No Mean City, 2025
Echo, 2023
Hydebank, 2019
Echo, 2023
Hydebank, 2019
Screenings and tickets
Sunday 6 April 2025 20:30
Usine à Gaz 2, Nyon
In the presence of the director
This film is screened with The Town That Drove Away
Wednesday 9 April 2025 14:15
Usine à Gaz 1, Nyon
This film is screened with The Town That Drove Away
Themed walks
Filmmakers or researchers from UNIL will take you on a walk through the streets of Nyon to delve into and deepen your appreciation of this film’s subject. No Mean City et The Town That Drove Away: Balade avec Matéo Brocard, photographe, et Julien Grisel, architecte
Photography
Ronnie McQuillan
Editing
Ross McCleanPhil Harrison
Sound
Tamás Varga
Production
Heidi FleisherElemental - PFILMMike PatersonElemental - PFILMConal Clapper
Sales contact
Heidi Fleisherheidifleisher@gmail.com+447960 929447
