Connaughton, whose screenwriting credits include ‘My Left Foot’, ‘The Playboys’ and ‘Tara Road’, will discuss his screenwriting and acting career at the event for IFTA Members in The New Theatre on East Essex Street in Dublin’s Temple Bar.
The event is free and exclusive to Members of the Irish Film & Television Academy and their guests, and will take place at 5pm on Wednesday August 1. A limited number of tickets to attend the opening night of Shane’s new play ‘The Pitch’ that evening in The New Theatre at 8pm will also be available.
This is the latest in the Irish Academy's series of In Conversation With... events which has also seen renowned cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (Avengers Assemble), legendary director Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) and acclaimed French actress Isabelle Huppert (8 Women) recently participate in similar informative discussions with IFTA.
Born in 1941 in Kingscourt, Co Cavan, Connaughton attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre school and came to prominence in 1980 when along with James Kennaway he co-wrote the screen play for the Academy Award-winning ‘The Dollar Bottom’ directed by Roger Christian.
He later collaborated with Mike Leigh on ‘Four Days In July’, a film about the Troubles in Northern Ireland which screened in 1985.
Connaughton co-wrote the screenplay with Jim Sheridan for 1989’s ‘My Left Foot’ which won five Oscars. The same year he published his novel ‘A Border Station’, which is a series of stories about a young boy’s relationship with his father and mother set along the Ulster border where his father is the local garda sergeant. This book mirrors Connaughton’s own upbringing in Redhills.
Connaughton is also the author of The Run of the Country (1991) also set in Redhills, and Big Parts published (2009).
He has also written the script for ‘The Playboys’ (1992) directed by Gilles MacKinnon which starred Albert Finney and Aidan Quinn and was shot on location in Redhills and also adapted ‘The Run of the Country’ (1995) directed by Peter Yates for the screen.
Connaughton also wrote the screenplay for Tara Road (2005), and wrote the script for the US television movie Blackwater Lightship (2004) based on Colm Toibin’s book.
His acting credits include many stage and screen productions, including ‘Coronation Street’, ‘Ghostwood’, ‘Four Days in July’ and Neil Jordan's ‘The Miracle’.
Information about qualification for IFTA Membership and application procedures is available on the IFTA website.
