This film is part of Free

Power in the Blood

Gospel singer and preacher travels from his home in Tennessee to Belfast on a mission to bring the healing power of Jesus back to Northern Ireland

Documentary 1989 77 mins

From the collection of:

Logo for Northern Ireland Screen

Overview

John T Davis follows Vernon Oxford into drinking dens, mission halls, a pirate radio station and the Prison Officers social club at the Maze Prison, where he speaks to the experience of many people, but particularly the Protestant working class people of faith. Power in the Blood draws parallels between their religious beliefs and practices and those found in the American South, at the same time observing them with candour and sympathy.

Born in Belfast in 1947, Davis's first experience of filmmaking came via a chance encounter with DA Pennebaker, in 1966. The legendary filmmaker was on a Belfast street, camera on shoulder, recording Bob Dylan for the seminal documentary Don't Look Back, when a young Davis happened on the scene. It was at that instant that Davis realised he wanted to be a filmmaker.