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C104:
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Orla
Walsh directing Bent Out of Shape (Orla Walsh,
1996, 26mins, colour);
courtesy
Film Institute of Ireland
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Green Screen
How
should film-making in Ireland be supported, and what sort
of film? Maeve Connolly reports on a recent event marking
thirty years of funding for film by the Arts Council/An
Chomhairle Ealaíon.
Visitors
to the Irish Film Centre during March and April had the
opportunity to view an unrivalled selection of Irish films,
screened within the context of two retrospective seasons,
each celebrating the anniversary of a significant milestone
in film policy. Despite the obvious interconnections between
these two events, and duplicate screenings of at least
one film, they were characterised by quite different emphases.
Bord Scannán na hÉireann chose to mark its tenth birthday
with New Irish Cinema: 1993-2003, encompassing
a programme of 76 Irish feature films at the IFC and the
Cinemobile and an impressive publication (compiled by
Kevin Rockett). The event also included a public forum
with contributions from Neil Jordan, Pat Murphy, Jim Sheridan,
Thaddeus O'Sullivan and Conor McPherson, among others.
30 Years
On: The Arts Council and the Film Maker also publicised
state support for Irish film, but its programme extended
beyond feature production. Instead, this joint initiative
on the part of the Arts Council and the Film Institute
of Ireland highlighted the diversity of the work funded
by the Council, from arts documentaries such as the
Heritage of Ireland series (directed by Louis Marcus
in 1978), excerpts from research-based projects like Amanda
Dunsmore's video work Billy's Museum (2002) and
a variety of short and feature-length dramas such as After
'68 (Stephen Burke, 1993) and All Soul's Day (Alan
Gilsenan, 1997). Curated by Ted Sheehy, it was developed
with the support of Gráinne Humphreys and archival staff
at the Film Institute, and with assistance from current
and former Arts Council film officers.
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Thirty
Five Aside (Damien O'Donnell, 1995, 26mins,
colour);
courtesy film Institute of Ireland
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Ailsa
(Paddy Breathnach, 1994, 78mins, colour); courtesy
Film Institute of Ireland
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The project
also resulted in the production of a modest, but significant,
publication that includes a full list of the Arts Council's
Film and Video Awards from 1973 to 2002. Although it does
not specify whether projects have been completed, this
list will be an important research resource for anyone
with an interest in Irish film or contemporary art practice.
Ted Sheehy's catalogue essay also provides considerable
insight into the circumstances surrounding the extension
of the Arts Council's remit to film in 1973. Quoting from
the Seanad debates on the Bill, Sheehy notes that it was
only following the intervention of Mary Robinson (in her
capacity as senator) that film was officially recognised
as an art form, long after the State had first considered
investing in facilities for commercial film production.
30 Years
On featured a number of relatively well-known film dramas,
such as Clash of the Ash (Fergus Tighe, 1987),
Budawanny (Bob Quinn, 1987) and Hush-A-Bye Baby
(Derry Film and Video Collective, 1989), but the vast
majority of the films in the programme have yet to be
released on video. Many are unavailable to view even in
the Irish Film Archive. These issues of access were highlighted
by the organisation of a temporary video-viewing room.
Although it was located in an administrative office and
open only for part of the event, this initiative is central
to the 30 Years On project and it exceeds 100 titles,
despite the fact that many of the works in the award catalogue
are not included. The fleeting presence and the incomplete
nature of this important collection underscores the need
for an accessible video library, supported by the Arts
Council.
Although
the organisers of 30 Years On aspired towards a
"complete exposition of film's place within all of the
arts," the event actually highlighted only some aspects
of the Arts Council's involvement in film. It was restricted
to 'Film and Video Project Awards' only and as such did
not include the full range of moving image work funded
by the Council across all art forms. This narrow interpretation
is particularly difficult to justify given current funding
structures, which actually subsume film and video under
the Projects Award. Although it would obviously have been
difficult to accommodate site-specific or performance-based
work within the IFC, this broader context might have been
addressed through documentation, or even a parallel exhibition.
In spite
of these limits, 30 Years On presented a much broader
range of work than that usually screened in the Irish
Film Centre. One programme, scheduled early on a Sunday
morning, included Vivienne Dick's video piece A Skinny
little man attacked Daddy (1994) and the Blue Funk
film C Oblique O (1999), as well as a number of pieces
developed for gallery installation, such as The turning
point (Grace Weir, 2002), Marco, one afternoon
(Jaki Irvine, 1999), and Forty below (Clare Langan,
1999). The transition from gallery to cinema was somewhat
uneven, perhaps because some works were devised for repeat
screening, but the setting did encourage the kind of shared
viewing (and discussion) that is relatively rare in galleries.
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High
Boot Benny (Joe Comerford, 1993, 82mins, colour);
courtesy
Film Institute of Ireland
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Reefer
and the Model (Joe Comerford, 1998, 98mins, colour);
courtesy
Film Institute of Ireland
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The programme
also featured two scheduled discussions, one focusing
on preservation and resource issues, the other dealing
with "the developing relationship between the Arts Council
and artists working with the moving image." I missed the
preservation session, due to a change in the schedule
outlined in the main IFC programme, but I did manage to
attend the 30 Years On forum. It was chaired by
Colm Ó Briain, former Director of the Arts Council. In
addition to offering an historical overview, it featured
presentations by filmmakers Joe Comerford, Vivienne Dick
and Johnny Gogan.
It was noted
by participants that the emphasis was on film-making,
as opposed to art practice, but the event did raise a
number of critical issues with respect to the Council's
current and future policies. One contributor, Vivienne
Dick, called for greater transparency in relation to the
Projects awards and also for more investment in film programmes
at galleries and museums. Others focused instead on the
relationship between the Council and Bord Scannán na hÉireann,
insisting that the Council should support the type of
artisanal practice that has been neglected by the Board
to date.
Coincidentally,
criticisms of Film Board policy were also voiced by participants
in the Film Board's own forum, held at the IFC two weeks
later. While many contributors regarded the event as a
'crisis meeting' (due to ongoing uncertainty with regard
to tax incentives for film) others identified low-budget
digital video production as the most promising area of
Irish cinema. The Arts Council clearly needs to assert
a role in this area of film practice, but without losing
sight of other areas of production, and exhibition. It
is to be hoped that historical perspective offered by
the 30 Years On project will inform a renewed commitment
on the part of the Arts Council and a more coherent and
accountable film policy.
Maeve
Connolly is an artist and writer. She is currently
researching Irish film, supported by a Government of Ireland
Scholarship from the Irish Research Council for the Humanities
and Social Sciences.
30 Years
On: The Arts Council and the Film Maker, Irish
Film Centre, 28 March - 1 April, 2003
Article reproduced
from CIRCA 104, Summer 2003,
pp. 22-23
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