February’s Must-See Cinema from the IFI Irish Film Archive is presented  in association with the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

Out of the Past: Terence McDonald –a programme of films made by a pioneering Derry filmmaker.

Terence McDonald (1926 – 2001) was a teacher, film historian, film collector and a most accomplished and prolific amateur filmmaker. He made some 35 films over four decades covering a wide range of themes such as mental health, travelling theatre, and portraits of his home town, Derry. His playful fiction films often pay homage to classic cinema moments from Peyton Place to Potemkin, from Chaplin to Jacques Tati. A true innovator he undertook all aspects of production – filming, sound recording and editing – to produce a body of remarkably sophisticated work. His films received widespread recognition with awards from the British Film Institute, the Munich Film Festival and National Film Institute (now IFI) Annual Film Competition.

Total running time: approx. 90 minutes

BOOKINGS: To book tickets, call the IFI Box Office on 01 679 3477 or online, or you can call JDIFF on 01 687 7974 or visit www.jdiff.com

A CITY SOLITARY
Written by a 26-year-old school teacher, John Hume, and produced by another local teacher, Terence McDonald, this reflection on Derry and its problems is handled with sympathetic impartiality and features contributions from both sides of the sectarian divide. (30 minutes, 1963)

THE MAN FROM AUNT
A slapstick homage to early screen comedians Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. (5 minutes, 1965)

NEBELUNG
A mutli-award-winning ‘experimental’ film which intrigued judges at the Munich Film Festival and elsewhere. (11 minutes, 1978)

THE FUGITIVE
The pursuit of a runaway pram on the endless hills of Derry. (5 minutes, 1966)

THE PORTABLE THEATRE
A warm and elegiac picture of the McCormicks and the last fit-up travelling show in Ulster. (25 minutes, 1968)