IFI Irish Film Archive
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38s
Valley Ice Cream: Big Red
An advertisement for Valley Ice Cream, encouraging people to get their next ice cream pop from ‘the big red fridge’. Featuring all the favourites, including Choc Ice. Valley Ice Cream was based in Thurles, Co Tipperary, and closed in 1997.
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15m 00s
Bye Bye Now
Residents of rural Ireland reminisce on the joys and sorrows of phone boxes as they become obsolete in the modern world. When phone boxes were first introduced in Irish villages in the 1920s, there was stern competition between local businesses to have one installed outside their property. The phone box would assume a monumental role in many people’s lives allowing them to stay connected with loved ones and receive all sorts of important news. In Mayo, a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary credit the box for helping to keep their long-distance romance alive. In Donegal, a man laughingly recalls how two women became trapped inside one while trying to wait out a bad storm. A young man nervously calls a maternity hospital for news of his young wife. Although many of those interviewed admitted they do not use the service anymore, the phone box is a fondly remembered feature of Irish village life. This film is part of F-Rated: Short Films by Irish Women.
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56m 45s
Dear Daughter - Trish McAdam Filmmaker Playlist
Our second IFI Filmmaker Playlist is curated by filmmaker and visual artist Trish McAdam. Since the production of her early shorts in the 1980s, Trish has created a vibrant and varied body of work, embracing a range of forms and subjects and retaining a singular, independent voice. We're delighted to welcome Trish to the Irish Film Institute to select her top picks from films preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive and presented on the IFI Archive Player. Dear Daughter was the first televised exposure of the horrific abuse of hundreds of children in Ireland’s industrial schools. Christine Buckley bravely recounts the extent of the atrocities she experienced as a child in Dublin’s Goldenbridge orphanage in this drama-documentary. Born in Dublin, she was the daughter of a married Irish woman and a Nigerian medical student. At the age of three weeks old she was given up to be fostered. Dear Daughter delves into her traumatic childhood at the orphanage and her persistent determination to find her parents. Dear Daughter was one of several television documentaries (including Lentin’s Stolen Lives (1999) and Mary Rafferty’s States of Fear (1999)) which heightened public awareness of institutional abuse, and lead to the commissioning of the Murphy and Ryan reports, which investigated the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin leading to a full State apology to victims of clerical child abuse by then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Dear Daughter was awarded the Creative Excellence Award at the US International Film and TV Festival 1996 and was nominated for Social and Political Documentary, Banff Television Festival, 1996. With kind permission of Dr. Ronit Lentin.
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4m 00s
The White Dress
An enigmatic tale of a young girl determined to participate in the ritual of First Holy Communion, even if she has to go it alone. A young girl wakes up in a grim flat, washes herself and dons a white dress, shoes and handbag. She completes her outfit with white ribbons stolen from a shop as she makes her way to the church, alone. Surrounded by other happy communicants and their families, she bravely participates in the ceremony and happily accepts a five euro note from a man in the church grounds. With great economy, Vanessa Gildea constructs a complex narrative reflecting upon child neglect; poverty; the power of long-held traditions of the Catholic Church and the determination of a young girl to be accepted by the community in the face of great odds. This film is part of F-Rated: Short Films by Irish Women.
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15m 00s
The Drip
In 1985, two teenagers break into a cinema at night to watch the comical story of a woman waiting impatiently for her boyfriend to return home from the pub. The man’s actions cause utter chaos upon his return home to their apartment. Despite his inebriation he decides to climb, half-naked, out of bed and under the sink to fix a dripping tap. A curious cat surprises him with its attentions causing him to accidentally knock himself out. His long-suffering girlfriend calls an ambulance and, relieved to hear he’ll be alright in the morning, allows herself a little laugh as he is carried off still drunk, still naked, for a night in hospital. This idiosyncratic short film provided a vehicle for the fledgling directorial talents of Trish McAdam, and for a large and impressive cast of young actors including Jack Lynch, Pom Boyd, Mannix Flynn, and a young Aidan Gillen (as Aidan Murphy). This film is part of F-Rated: Short Films by Irish Women.
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2m 44s
Legend of the Lough
This short travelogue, part of the Pathetone Weekly cinemagazine, features the scenic landscapes of Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Stunning footage of the ‘earthly paradise’ includes the upper and lower lakes, the majestic round tower, St. Kevin’s Church, and a ruined monastery. The narrator tells the story of St. Kevin – an Irish saint who lived very primitively in a cave by the lake in the 6th century. Facts are sprinkled with anecdotes: ‘A young woman enamoured with the holy man once visited him, only to meet with his displeasure. Indeed, he would have none of her and pushed her into the water.’ Tourists still flock to Glendalough to experience the spectacular scenery, rich history, archaeology and abundant wildlife. This film is part of The Irish Independence Film Collection – The Early Irish Free State that explores facets of Irish society after the War of Independence and up to the birth of the Irish Republic.