Underground Cinema, in association with the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company, has announced the opening of Dublin’s first Drive-In cinema, to open in Dun Laoghaire. The Drive-In will be located inside the Ferry Terminal in the seaside town, and will hold 80 cars with two screenings (a family friendly movie at 7pm and one for more mature audiences at 9pm) per evening.
The Drive-In will be launched as part of the Bank Holiday weekend celebrations in Dun Laoghaire for St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Over the weekend in March, Underground cinema will screen a wide selection of films for young and old. The opening film will be musical favourite ‘Greece’ followed later on the same evening with Spielberg classic, ‘Jaws’. Other films to be screened in March include ‘Back to the Future’, ‘The Usual Suspects’, ‘The Commitments’, ‘Alien’, ‘Despicable Me 2’ and ‘Monster’s University.’
The 5th Underground Film Festival, which is to take place in September, will be utilising the Drive-In as one of its central venues. The festival champions emerging filmmakers, and the winner of last year’s festival was Mark O’ Connor’s ‘Stalker’ (click here for an interview with the writer-director). This will mark the first time a film festival in Ireland has used a drive-in cinema of this size to screen independent Irish films.
“It’s a good news story for Dun Laoghaire,” says Paul Ward, manager of the new Underground Cinema Drive-In. “We believe that the Drive-In Cinema will bring lots of people and families to the town over the Bank Holiday weekend. Ticket sales so far have been excellent with people booking from all over the country. This essentially means that a lot of people will make going to the Drive-In a full day out in the town. It’s good for us and it is good business for Dun Laoghaire.”
Meanwhile, Underground Cinema Festival Director David Byrne stresses the importance of the Drive-In for the Irish film making industry: “Independent Irish cinema is booming at the moment in Ireland. We’re delighted to be able to use the Drive-In Cinema for our Film Festival this year so we can showcase the incredible work that is being done in this country by our Irish film makers. It makes it even more special the fact that Dun Laoghaire is the home of the National Film School.”
The Underground Cinema Drive In will operate on March 15th, 16th, 17th, 29th and 30th. Further Drive-In screenings are planned for later in the year. Admission prices start at just €16 per car and can be booked online. For more details on the Underground Cinema Drive-In, visit www.underground-cinema.com
