Paul Taylor, the fourth Programme Director of the Dublin Film Festival in as many years, is conscious of the fact that he is taking over an event which has had more than its fair share of difficulties in the recent past. Uncertainty over venues, declining attendances and a growing financial deficit have all contributed to a widespread perception that the DFF had lost the plot.
The resignation last year of Taylor's predecessor Maretta Dillon, who cited irreconcilable differences with the Festival Board, was followed by the departure of several Board members. The dispute centred on the working relationship between Dillon and Marketing Director Aine O'Halloran (herself a former Programme Director), who has remained in her position, and whom Taylor describes as a crucial support to his programming work over the last few months. "If it hadn't been for Aine's energy, it would have been very difficult," he says.
Like O'Halloran, Taylor's background is in the British Film Institute and the regional film exhibition sector in the UK. He has also worked as a film critic, and in 1990 cofounded the successful Shots in the Dark festival of crime films in Nottingham. When he came to Dublin last autumn at the invitation of DFF chairman Lewis Clohessy, it was his first visit to the city.
He confesses that he expected a more negative reception, given the circumstances of his appointment. "There is still a little bit of tension around, but I was led to believe that personally I'd be in for a much rougher ride than I've so far had. I've actually had a very warm welcome, for which I'm grateful."
He freely admits that he has had to come in at an unsatisfactorily late date to pull together this year's festival. "I could have done with about three more months' preparation," he says. "But I was just in the middle of doing the souvenir brochure for the London Film Festival when I got the call from Lewis, clearly in a bit of a state with the lateness of Maretta's resignation, asking would I be interested. So I came over and met the Board, and here I am. I think, in the circumstances, I've done a reasonable job in the time."
He agrees with my suggestion that Dublin's traditional strength is as a broadly-based general festival appealing to a wide constituency. "I do see that the other Irish festivals, like Galway and Cork, have carved out certain niches for themselves. There has been some debate as to whether Dublin should make a point of showcasing every Irish production of each year, an uncritical survey where everything's there. There are clearly a lot of people in the production sector here who would like to see that, but I don't see it as the role of the festival as currently constituted."
As for the position of the DFF in the calendar (it remains this year in the April slot to which it moved last year from March), "I don't see anywhere else in the calendar where we could go, where it would be practicable to cover two weekends."
The date can cause some problems in terms of availability of titles, he admits, coming too early in the year to obtain new films premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, while other titles may be held back for Cannes in May. "Realistically, Rotterdam was the last film festival we could get things from, and I was only there for three days this year, but we did manage to get several good films out of that."
In terms of the DFF programme itself, the most significant change is the reduction from three to two screens at the UGC multiplex. Far from representing a scaling-down of the DFF's ambitions, Taylor sees this as an essential focusing. "The idea is to give people more chance to see them, and to have less wasted movies - which is also the thinking behind the repeat screenings of some titles. I hate the idea of padding the schedule with films that people won't see."
So the reduction isn't a response to falling box office figures? "Well, my understanding is that last year was a record low, but the year before had been a record high. I think there are 92 features in there, of which 76 are new. All of those are films that deserve an audience."
The new approach may suit the casual festival-goer, but what about the hardcore fans who totally immerse themselves for 10 days? Will they feel shortchanged? "I sincerely hope not. They can still get about five or six movies a day, if they dance around the schedule. I've tried to keep one screen almost wholly English-language, with the other one subtitled. I believe in clean scheduling, which can be easily understood. I've always been involved at the sharp end of ticket-selling, projection and presentation, and I hate things like films starting late."
The UGC complex on Parnell Street (which has just changed its name from Virgin) played host to the DFF for the first time last year, to a mixed reaction from festival-goers: some praised the better standards of projection and comfort, while others criticised the over-officious seat allocation and lack of atmosphere. It's still a moot point whether a multi-screen cineplex is the best place for a film festival, agrees Taylor.
"I've always been suspicious of being a cuckoo in somebody else's nest, but it's really the only option. Don't get me wrong, I do like the UGC. As multiplexes go, it's one of the best, and they do take presentation very seriously. But personally I believe it does show the need for something twice the size of the IFC in Dublin. Clearly a venue which was showing that kind of material all year around would be a better fit. But you can also take the missionary position, that being there allows you to evangelise for quality cinema in a different context."
The relationship between the IFC and the DFF has always been surprisingly tenuous, given their apparent common areas of interest. It's something which Taylor says he would love to address and develop. "At the moment, and this is something I think needs to be addressed at board level, the relationship is a purely commercial one. We hire their space and pay for the screens, which cost us a damn sight more per screening than the UGC. That's a ridiculous situation, because we're in the business of showing the same kind of product that they show the rest of the year around. There should definitely be a closer relationship."
THIS year's programme clearly has a more populist tilt to it, which Taylor acknowledges is attributable in part to new title sponsors Miller Genuine Draft: "They clearly wanted a programme with a profile, a few faces that people would recognise. It's difficult to criticise, but if you look at last year's programme, there were very few films with any profile before the festival. We've tried to bump that up a bit without affecting the overall quality."
Getting high-profile guests into Dublin for the festival has proved increasingly difficult in recent years, but Taylor has avoided giving too many hostages to fortune by promising a programme supplement in the next few days, with details of special events, public interviews, etc. He's confident of producing an attractive roster, but is "still looking for a couple more stellar presences". Workshops on costume design and music compilation soundtracks are also planned.
Understandably, he hasn't had much time in his short tenure to address the more long-term issues of the changing role of the festival in the years ahead. "It's very hard to think in those terms, anyway, when there's no continuity whatsoever of public funding. The sponsors have been superb this year, and we hope they'll be back for next year, but we just don't know. They'll keep their powder dry until they see if it actually works.
"At the moment we're talking a good festival, but that's not the proof of it. But the Arts Council will only fund year on year, which makes longer-term planning impossible. They're now discussing funding a feasibility study, which implies a more long-term plan, but even the timing this year has made it extremely difficult to estimate cash flow.
"As a festival for a city of this size it's seriously under-resourced. That's my provisional perception, but working through the implications of that will take a much longer time."
