Culture Ireland has awarded €42,500 funding to boost Irish film festivals abroad, in its winter funding round.
The payout saw 75 arts projects across Europe, Asia, America, the Middle East and Australia benefit from a €813,000 of funding, split between dance, theatre and film related projects.
• Gene Siskel Film Centre, Chicago, received €2000 towards its presentation of Irish films in the EU Film Festival at the centre, which takes place from 7th-27th March 2007.
• David P Kelly Films, UK, received €2,000 for its upcoming Irish Film Festival in London, with Irish films screening at a number of theatres and cinemas from 11th-15th March 2007.
• €10,000 went to Cinematheque Tel-Aviv, who will present an Irish festival at Tel-Aviv Cinemateque, from 30th January - 2nd February 2008.
• The Fleadh Foundation, New York, received €12,000 to present a festival of Irish Film and Music in New York, from 4th - 11th March 2007
• €1,500 went to Zero Em Comportamento - Associacao for its Irish participation in IndieLisboa - International Independent Film Festival, which takes place in Portugal from 24th April - 4th May 2008.
• Production company Desperate Optimists picked up €15,000 to present ‘Civic Life’, a series of seven short films shot in the UK and Ireland, at film festivals in England and Rotterdam in 2008.
“In 2008 we are proud to be supporting a range of outstanding projects in global artistic centres such as New York and Edinburgh as well as dynamic emerging cultural hubs like China,” said Eugene Downes, Chief Executive, Culture Ireland. “Culture Ireland is receiving an ever increasing number of high-quality proposals. The evidence is striking that Irish artists are thinking, creating and working in a global context.”
In theatre, two flagship Irish productions that will run at the Traverse Theatre during the 2008 Edinburgh Festival also secured funding -the Abbey’s production of ‘Terminus’, written by screenwriter Mark O’Rowe (Boy A, Intermission) secured €82,000 funding, while Druid Theatre Company’s production of The New Electric Ballroom, written by Enda Walsh (Disco Pigs) received €80,000. Druid Theatre Company receives additional grants of €60,000 to present another of Walsh’s plays, The Walworth Farce, at St Ann’s Warehouse in New York, following the play’s successful Edinburgh run this year.
“The Abbey Theatre is very proud to present the work of Mark O’Rowe at the Traverse Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Festival,” said Director of the Abbey Theatre, Fiach Mac Conghail. “Culture Ireland has been pivotal in supporting contemporary Irish theatre abroad. With the support of Culture Ireland Terminus is also opening in the Under the Radar Festival in New York on January9th”.
Culture Ireland’s Spring 2008 call for projects has a 15 February deadline for receipt of applications, with decisions in March. Forms are available on www.cultureireland.gov.ie.
