Preceded by Dust on the Bible (John T. Davis, Ireland, 1989, 52 mins).John T. Davis is primarily known for his personal documentaries exploring Protestant culture in Northern Ireland. In the poetic Dust on the Bible, a drive in the rain is intercut with scenes of fundamentalist Northern Ireland, while phrases from Revelation resonate in voice-over. In his most autobiographical film, The Uncle Jack, Davis looks back on his relationship with his architect uncle who designed cinemas throughout Northern Ireland. His magnificent dream palaces are now largely decayed. When his masterpiece, The Tonic, burned in mysterious circumstances, Davis began to piece together Jack's eccentric life, an investigation which became as much about his own personal decisions as his uncle's. Davis and his family now live in the uncle's house, amidst relics from his past-9.5mm films from the forties, neglected model airplanes-artifacts which were central to Davis's evolution as an artist, first as a painter and then an independent filmmaker. Both routes allowed him an escape from the claustrophobia of the North. (KG)