The death this weekend (Saturday 8 February) of filmmaker Vinny Cunningham has shocked many in Derry, the northwest, and beyond.
Like so many, we at Nerve Centre are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of our friend, colleague, and collaborator.
Vinny’s contribution to filmmaking and the wider creative community in Derry has been immense. His pride in his city and its people is writ large across all of his creative output and in the scores of people he has helped, nurtured, and encouraged along the way. The response to his passing gives some sense of the legacy he leaves behind, both in human and practical terms.
As an ambassador for this city and its creative potential, he leaves a trail of goodwill and good deeds in his wake, but it is as a documenter of this place and its people that he may be most proud.
Vinny was a mainstay of the film and cultural community in Derry for over 40 years, working as a professional, multi-award-winning camera operator, documentary producer, and director. His work was deeply rooted in Derry and its people, bringing their stories to global audiences and creating an important televisual record of life and key events in this city.
From early beginnings at the Derry Youth and Community Workshop, working alongside Paul McClintock, Vinny secured access to a camera and began documenting the world around him — his key passions being music, football, and the people of Derry.
His love of being behind the camera soon brought him into contact with alumni of the Derry Film and Video Workshop, including Tommy Collins, Margo Harkin, Anne Crilly, Jim Curran as well as Joe Mahon and Dennis Bradley of Northland Films. It was here, in 1989, that Vinny teamed up with Billy Gallagher, his sound recordist and constant working companion for the rest of his career.
His early work filming McGilloway’s Way with Ollie McGilloway for UTV saw him and Joe Mahon build a solid body of television work, ultimately evolving into Lesser Spotted Ulster and then Mahon’s Way, which Vinny shot and Joe has presented for UTV since 1995.
Vinny’s work on Lesser Spotted Ulster earned him a Guild of Television Cameramen award. His distinctive visual style, paired with Joe Mahon’s relaxed delivery, gave the programme a uniquely warm and familiar feel that has endeared it to audiences for 30 years.
However, it is for his documentary work that Vinny’s contribution is arguably most significant.
In 2001, he teamed up with director and filmmaker Tommy Collins to produce Teenage Kicks — a feature documentary for the BBC about his beloved Undertones. The film cemented their legacy in musical history for TV audiences across the UK and further afield, even bringing the legendary John Peel to Derry to feature in the documentary — a testament to Vinny’s charm and dedication.
This was followed by a personal mission to bring a key chapter of Derry’s recent history to life for TV audiences.
A proud Derry man, Vinny was acutely aware that the history of the Troubles had often overlooked the Battle of the Bogside — the events of August 1969 that led to the introduction of the British Army to Derry’s streets and signalled the de facto start of the conflict.
With broadcasters in Ireland and Northern Ireland initially passing on the project, Vinny refused to take no for an answer, eventually persuading the newly established BBC4 to commission the documentary. Battle of the Bogside went on to win an IFTA Award for Best Documentary, receive a Grierson Award nomination, and screen internationally at film festivals as well as on the BBC.
This film also marked the beginning of a creative collaboration with Nerve Centre’s John Peto, which led to five further films. Their shared mission was to capture the voices and experiences of ordinary Derry people who lived through extraordinary times.
The first three of these films, the Derry Trilogy of Battle, No Go: The Free Derry Story, and Exodus were some of Vinny’s proudest work. These documentaries brought the story of Derry’s role in the early days of the Troubles to life with love, compassion, and a keen eye for storytelling, earning widespread acclaim across Ireland and the UK.
Vinny’s encyclopaedic archive of local footage was interwoven with testimonies from participants, eyewitnesses, and key figures, all scored with carefully curated local music. The result was a series of films that were a labour of love and a tribute to the city and its people.
Further films followed for UTV and the BBC, including documentaries on Operation Motorman and Operation Banner, before Vinny and John’s final broadcast work in 2022 — The White Handkerchief. This documentary took viewers behind the scenes of Kieran Griffiths’ ambitious theatre production, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. The film went on to receive RTS and Celtic Film & TV Award nominations.
Alongside his own projects, Vinny was always willing to support others, offering archive material, contacts, and advice to filmmakers of all levels — both local and those creating films about the Northwest.
His long list of production credits included films about his treasured Derry City FC and The Undertones, as well as standalone projects such as City’s 2006 European Football Odyssey and documentaries chronicling Derry’s vibrant music scene.
Vinny’s films created a televisual record and archive of the city — crafted with love, care, and compassion. They captured the spirit, pride, and resilience of this place and its people, even through some of its darkest days.
For all that he was to so many of us, Vinny was first and foremost a dedicated and proud husband, father, and, in recent years, grandfather.
Our thoughts are with his wife Deborah, his children Niall and Orla, and his longtime sound recordist and friend, Billy Gallagher.
Derry has lost a proud son and a champion of this place and its people.
We are all the poorer for his passing.
Watch Vinny’s Work
Vinny’s incredible body of work lives on through his films and documentaries. Explore some of his projects below:
- Vinny’s Channel on YouTube — Open Reel Productions
- Full Documentary: No Go — The Free Derry Story — Watch on YouTube
- The Undertones — Thrill Me — Watch on YouTube
- Tumble Turns — Watch on Vimeo
- Clip: The White Handkerchief — Watch on BBC