THE current darling of the film worId, Anthony Minghella, the director of The English Patient, was just one of the tinseltown celebs in town this week for the start of the Dublin Film Festival. The old adage, "those who can do and those who can't teach", was given the lie by Minghella who proved he can do both by giving a masterclass on Thursday in the Irish Film Centre.
O'Connell Street was ablaze with lights for the first night of the festival in the Ambassador, with Stephen Read doing the honours at the opening of his own film, A Further Gesture, written by Ronan Bennett, who was also in town for the event. First-night guests included Oscar winner Brenda Fricker and journalist Nell McCafferty. The Minister for Arts and Culture, Michael D. Higgins was there, as was the Minister for Social Welfare, Proinsias De Rossa and the British Ambassador Veronica Sutherland. Maria Doyle-Kennedy, who stars in the film, was in fine form.
Director Pat O'Connor and his wife Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio will be in town next week to promote his new film, Inventing The Abbotts. O'Connor, who directed Maeve Binchy's Circle of Friends, is the subject of this year's festival retrospective.