access CINEMA will hold its annual event VIEWING:SESSIONS 2003 at the Dunamaise Arts Centre and the Storm Cinemas in Portlaoise from March 28-30 this year. Thirteen films will be shown over the weekend.
access CINEMA is a resource organisation for cultural cinema exhibition and works with film societies, arts centres and arts festivals to develop and expand arthouse cinema provision throughout Ireland.
Opening the event is Heartlands, (UK, 2002) Damien O'Donnell's long awaited follow up to East is East, which is filled with humorous observations, sly running jokes and offbeat characters. It centres on Colin, hopelessly devoted to his wife Sandra, who spends his days running their newspaper shop and failing to notice her affair with a local policeman and darts team captain Geoff.
Damien O'Donnell will attend to present his film and launch the event.
Other films to be screened are:
Ararat (Canada, 2002) addresses a genocide that predates the invention of the term: the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians by the Turkish Ottoman army during World War I;
Secretary, (Secretary, 2002) one of the year¹s most talked about US indies, is a fresh and witty sophomore feature that offers an unorthodox view of office romance;
Open Hearts (Denmark, 2002) from the Dogme stable, an emotionally devastating drama, which takes two strands of soap opera convention ‹ a life-changing accident and an adulterous affair ‹ and spins their suds into gold;
Igby Goes Down, (USA, 2002) an inspired example of the story in which the adolescent hero (think Holden Caulfield) discovers that the world sucks, people are phoneys, and sex is a consolation;
Intacto (Spain, 2002) a fantasy thriller is a confident and impressive Spanish debut which, starts from the premise that luck is a commodity to be traded or stolen;
Son of the Bride, (Argentina/Spain, 2001) a tender beautifully acted dramatic comedy from Argentina that centres on a middle aged man in crisis;
Chihwaseon, (South Korea, 2002) Joint winner of the Best Director Award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festiva, l tells the story of renowned nineteenth-century painter JANG Seung-up an artist whose revolutionary work - and persona - has forever changed the face of Korean art;
Lilya 4-ever, (Sweden, 2002) 16 year old Lilya lives in a poor and dreary suburb in what was the Soviet Union. She dreams of a better life in a new country. Her mother has moved to the US with a new man and Lilya waits to be sent for.
Mostly Martha (Germany, 2001) is a very bright, very affecting romantic comedy-drama, with a wonderful central character, a brilliant but extremely temperamental gourmet chef;
Respiro, (Italy, 2002) based on a local legend and shot on the sun drenched Sicilian island of Lampedusa does a superb job of capturing the everyday rhythms of a small fishing village and the tensions that threaten to tear apart a lively local family;
Springtime in a Small Town (China, 2002) , the new film from the director of The Blue Kite, remakes a 1948 Chinese feature to wonderful effect skewing the Chekhovian triangle that develops between a young landowner, his wife, and the local doctor.
A selection from the Irish Film Board's Short Shorts will also be shown over the weekend.
A major element of the weekend is a forum on Saturday afternoon, March 29 entitled Arthouse Exhibition in Arts Centres. The forum will provide a platform for arts centre managers and programmers, film societies currently working with arts centres as well as newer venues interested in developing this aspect of their arts programming, to express views as well as discuss and debate the issues. One of the key topics to be discussed will be audience development. The role of programming and marketing in reaching and sustaining audiences will be highlighted.
Currently access CINEMA has 25 member groups screening on both 35mm and DVD in a variety of venues throughout the country - please see list below.
access CINEMA would like to acknowledge its sponsors and funders: The Arts Council, Dunamaise Arts Centre, Storm Cinemas, Aerly Bird, GFD Communications, Filmbank.
Further information is available at the website: www.accesscinema.ie
