DONALD CLARKE'sroundup of this week's other film news
Bright young folk for Ballymun
The admirable Oska Bright Film Festival, the first travelling festival to be run for and by folk with learning disabilities, is on its way to Axis at Ballymun. The event, which comprises a series of short films, will be at the north Dublin location next Thursday, February 4th. If, however, you can’t make it, check out Oska Bright’s website, which contains tips on how to make your own short. www.oskabright.co.uk.
Cork’s film fest goes international
The Corona Cork Film Festival is on a road trip. A team from that estimable event, working in conjunction with the Irish Film Board, will, from today, be at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival (arguably the most prestigious dedicated shorts jamboree) to host the Irish Short Film Stand.
Four films are being put before shoppers at the market: David O’Brien’s Moore Street Masala, Tony O’Donoghue’s A Film from My Parish – Six Farms, Alice Lyons’s The Polish Language, and David Reilly’s Please Say Something.
Free movies day at Dublin’s IFI
The Irish Film Institute will be hosting a day of free movies on February 6th to celebrate the opening of its swish new facilities. There will be 12 screenings on the day – two of which should suit “the whole family” – and one of those pictures is to be chosen via a public vote on the IFI’s website. The poll aims to find the “nation’s favourite arthouse film”, but strains the definition somewhat by offering the distinctly mainstream March of the Penguins as an option. Anyway, vote now and vote often at www.ifi.ie.
This Sunday at 2pm, the Institute will screening Thorold Dickinson’s undervalued 1949 film The Queen of Spades. Philip Horne, Professor of English at University College London and co-editor of the definitive book on Dickinson, will be on hand to deliver an introduction. Good stuff.
Wuthering gets a third director
A strangely troubled adaptation of Wuthering Heights has, after two directors vanished, ended up in the safe hands of the singular Andrea Arnold. John Maybury, director of Love Is the Devil, was originally behind the megaphone before dropping out last summer. Then Peter Webber, the Girl with a Pearl Earring bloke, was in charge for a while.
On balance, Arnold seems like a good choice. The director of Red Road and Fish Tank should bring some grit to a story that is too often tidied up by the cinema.
Hurt Locker stays in Oscar running
The race for best picture Oscar is still alive. On Sunday night, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker took the top prize at the Producers Guild of America awards. Whatever you might hear, the Guild’s gongs have proved a much better guide to the Oscars than the Golden Globes. So Avatar doesn’t have it in the bag yet.
Tralee service for Michael Dwyer
A service will be held for Michael Dwyer, the late Film Correspondent of The Irish Times, at 10.30am on Sunday at St Johns Church, Tralee, Michael’s home town. His ashes will then be taken for burial in a nearby cemetery. Michael died on January 1st, following an illness.
It is clear it's a case of when they break up rather than if
TheNews of the World's
"unnamed source" hedges his (or her) bets about Brad and Angelina
