Interview: Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn on Saipan – and disagreements

It started with a disagreement – not on the scale of the clash between Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane at the centre of Saipan but, when she read the script for the film, director Lisa Barros D’Sa reacted instantly. “We’re not doing a film about football!” Husband, directing partner and self-confessed fan of the beautiful game, Glenn Leyburn, didn’t quite agree and the two soon both realized they were looking at a story about more than sport.

Set during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the film traces how the Republic of Ireland’s qualification for the finals was almost overshadowed by a head to head confrontation between team coach McCarthy and superstar captain Keane. To the outside world and all the media scrambling to cover the story, this was a feud about sporting standards – lack of equipment, poor food, a rocky pitch – that resulted in Keane being sent home. Underneath was something more deep rooted, a fundamental difference in their approach to the game and personal animosity, all of which fuelled what has since become one of the most notorious and public fallings-out in the history of any sport.

Related Post: Saipan Review

For Barros D’Sa and Leyburn, Saipan is radical departure from their previous films, music bio-pic Good Vibrations (2012) and mature love story Ordinary Love (2019). In a return chat with The People’s Movies – they last spoke to us about the latter – they reflect on being lucky enough to “take a deep dive into a world that you might not expect to be able to explore.” It turned out to be an exciting process but it wasn’t without challenges. The story about the “collision between two men on an island far from home” had been heavily covered by the media at the time and subsequently re-told in the theatre and documentaries. Giving audiences an understanding of both sides of the argument was at the top of their list of priorities.

At the time of recording, Barros D’Sa and Leyburn were unable to say if either McCarthy or Keane had seen the film and, so far, neither of them has made any comment.

You can watch the full interview here:

Saipan is in UK cinemas from January 23rd.

About the Author

Freda Cooper

Editor

Freda is a Senior Writer at The People's Movies. A lifelong movie fan and a film critic for over ten years, Freda’s natural habitat is the darkened rooms frequented by fellow cineastes. She can also be found asking questions of some of the biggest names in the business – from Cate Blanchett to Daniel Craig or Mike Leigh to Pete Docter – or crafting reviews for a number of sites and publications, including The People’s Movies. And listeners to BBC Local Radio can catch her views on the latest releases. She always – and probably always will – cite The Third Man as her favourite film of all time. Her top ten? That’s a moveable feast …..

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