IFI Irish Film Archive
Clannad
Duration1m 01s
Clannad perform on a Guinness-shaped stage and explain the origins of their song "Into the Dark" in this commercial.
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Fall into Half-Angel
A documentary exploring the romantic and artistic relationship between two trapeze artists. Trapeze artists Ken Fanning and Tina Segner perform a series of breath-taking feats in the air as they reflect on their relationship and the profound physical and emotional trust that their partnership demands. This is not your traditional love story: boy meets girl; they fall in love with each other and with the trapeze; girl meets somebody else; trust is undermined. Following the break-up and an accidental fall, trust and emotions are tested. But the pair continue working closely together perfecting their act. Róisín Loughrey’s DLCAD graduate film delicately interweaves the frank reflections of the artists with Kate McCullough’s black and white cinematography (see more of McCullough’s work in Home). Fall into Half Angel won many awards and was screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This film is part of F-Rated: Short Films by Irish Women.
Gore Vidal - Imprint: Writers in Profile
This episode of Writers in Profile features the novelist, playwright, screenwriter and essayist, Gore Vidal. We gain a glimpse of Vidal’s early childhood, the controversy around his novel The City and the Pillar, and his experience writing scripts for films such as Ben Hur (1959). A desire to dissect the roots of American society has spurred him to coax readers to revise their sense of reality. Vidal believes this work can be divided into two kinds of novel – the first is built from reflections of history and the others are ‘fictive inventions’. The Big Bang theory and reincarnation are explored, and Vidal expresses how ‘very lucky’ he has been in life and work. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.
Brendan Kennelly - Imprint: Writer in Profile
Irish poet and novelist Brendan Kennelly is a prolific author of over 20 poetry collections as well as plays, novels and criticism. In this episode, his work including My Dark Fathers and four plays - Antigone, Medea, The Trojan Women and Blood Wedding is explored. Theo Dorgan and Kennelly then delve into the role of the poet and stimulating themes of adventure and rebellion through the power of the imagination. Kennelly notes the writing of William Blake as an influence on his work and his admiration for the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.
The Irreconcilable Mr. De Valera
This footage shot on March 1922 shows Éamon de Valera standing on a podium giving an animatedly irate speech to a large gathering of people on Sackville street in Dublin (O’Connell Street). In this speech he said if the Treaty was accepted, it might be necessary to “wade through Irish blood” to achieve Irish freedom. Many of de Valera’s enemies stated this would encourage Civil War. The Irish Civil War started on June 28th that year and ended May 1923 when the pro-treaty Free State forces beat the anti-Treaty IRA. The Treaty, which would replace the Republic as a dominion of the British Commonwealth, was signed on December 6th. De Valera was not happy with the signing of it as he had stipulated that regardless of the outcome, that delegates should not be pressured into any agreements and should return to consult with the cabinet and him, their President. After the Treaty was narrowly ratified, de Valera and a large majority of Sinn Féin T.D.s left Dáil Éireann and Arthur Griffith was elected President.
Terence MacSwiney Laid to Rest
This newsreel shows the final journey for Terence Mac Swiney, who died in Brixton, England on October 25th 1920. His body arrives in Cork at Customs House Quay on October 31st (it was diverted from Dublin to avoid demonstrations). The coffin of Terence McSwiney arrives on the tugboat Mary Tavy into Cork's Custom House Quay. A procession of mourners fill Patrick Street as hordes of people turn up to show their respects. His brother Sean MacSwiney is seen walking alongside the coffin along with his other brother Peter, who is acting as pallbearer. His coffin is carried into the Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne and he is buried at St Finbarr’s Cemetery. Terence James MacSwiney was an Irish playwright, author and politician. He was elected as Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork during the Irish War of Independence in 1920. He was arrested by the British on charges of sedition and imprisoned in Brixton Prison in England. His death there in October 1920 after 74 days on hunger strike brought him and the Irish struggle to international attention.
Ireland’s Holy Mount
This footage captures a pilgrimage to Ireland’s Holy Mount, Croagh Patrick from 1921 where thousands of people toil over bog and boulders to reach the summit and pray for peace. Croagh Patrick is a 764 metre-high mountain and an important site of pilgrimage in County Mayo, Ireland. It is the third highest mountain in County Mayo after Mweelrea and Nephin and forms the southern part of a U-shaped valley created by a glacier flowing into Clew Bay in the last Ice Age. It is climbed by pilgrims on Reek Sunday every year, which is the last Sunday in July.