June 16th, the centenary of Bloomsday, that extraordinary date on which, in 1904, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus journeyed through the streets of Dublin, will be marked by RTÉ Television with a host of special programming including feature films, documentaries and dramas.
RTÉ Television aims to strike a delicate balance between enhancing a popular understanding and appreciation of ‘Ulysses’ and sating the great, academic thirst for literary and biographical material on James Joyce.
The specially commissioned 'Imagining Ulysses' will provide the fulcrum to the week-long celebration, making the academic accessible in a highly entertaining, innovative way; Seán Ó Mordha provides us with two seminal documentaries - a re-mastered version of the Emmy-Award winning 'Is There One Who Understands Me' and the newly-commissioned 'James Joyce. Silence, Exile, Cunning', which offers a different perspective to his first documentary, centering on Ireland, Europe and the World of Bloomsday, 1904; Bloomsday Cabaret is a musical exploration of ‘Ulysses’ featuring well-known musicians and performers; A newly re-mastered Sylvia Beach interview, 'The View Presents: Sylvia Beach, Self Portrait' is a rare treat for Joyce aficionados, and the television celebration will also include the broadcast of 'Nora', the critically-acclaimed feature film of Joyce's life with Nora Barnacle, starring Ewan McGregor and Susan Lynch.
Director-General, Cathal Goan, said:
“No fictional date is more celebrated throughout the world than 16 June, Bloomsday, rightly celebrated as it forms the spine of Ulysses – internationally recognised as the greatest fictional work of the last century. It is appropriate that RTÉ would mark the centenary of Bloomsday by bringing the life and work of its author, James Joyce, to as wide an audience as possible – through Radio and Television broadcasts, recordings and the world-wide web. We are proud to bring the best of our previous works on Joyce together with exciting new recordings to the Irish audience and to those interested in Irish literature and studies world-wide. Like Ulysses itself, many of these recordings will stand the test of time.”
IMAGINING ULYSSES
- Wednesday June 16th, 21.30. RTÉ One.
Produced by David Blake Knox and Hilary Fennell, Blueprint Pictures.
IS THERE ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS ME?
- Sunday, June 13th, 15.40. RTÉ Network 2
A documentary by Sean O’ Mordha. An Araby Production for RTÉ.
JAMES JOYCE. SILENCE, EXILE AND CUNNING
- Tues, June 15th, 22.30. RTÉ One.
A documentary by Sean O’ Mordha. An Araby Production for RTÉ.
THE VIEW PRESENTS: SYLVIA BEACH, SELF PORTRAIT
- Monday June 14th, 23.35. RTÉ One.
RTÉ Archive. Duration: 24 minutes.
BLOOMSDAY CABARET
- Sunday Jun 13th RTÉ One, 24.00
Directed by Rosemary House.
THE VIEW.
A special edition of ‘The View’ reviews ‘Ulysses’ the book.
- Wednesday, June 16th, 23.30PM. RTÉ One.
NORA
- Saturday, June 12th. 24.00. RTÉ One.
Directed by Pat Murphy. Written by Gerry Stembridge. Starring: Ewan McGregor, Susan Lynch and Peter MacDonald.
There will also be a number of radio programmes – For further details see www.rte.ie
