THE MODERNS CINEMA AND IRELAND

The IFI presents The Moderns: Cinema and Ireland curated in conjunction with The Moderns, IMMA’s major autumn exhibition.

This continuing season of screenings explores aspects of Ireland’s relationship with cinema, from the role the film societies play in bringing European avant-garde cinema to audiences in Ireland to the development in the 1970s of a distinct identity for Irish film.

The final section of the series looks at the ‘First Wave’ of Irish filmmakers in the 1970s. The work of artists such as Pat Murphy, Joe Comerford, Cathal Black, Bob Quinn, Thaddeus O’Sullivan and Kieran Hickey presented a stark counterpoint to the representations of Ireland which had been created by foreign filmmakers in previous decades. As Kieran Hickey wrote, it would for the first time allow us to ‘show ourselves to ourselves and to others’. Their collective achievement was the consolidation of a domestic Irish film culture that has developed since into the much larger Irish film industry of today. Films screened from the era will include Kieran Hickey’s Moonmen (1965), Thaddeus O Sullivan’s Flanagan (1970), Joe Comerford’s Emtigon (1977), and Vivienne Dick’s Staten Island (1978).
Comerford and Dick will join Dr Maeve Connolly (IADT) for a discussion about their practise.