Hi All,
 
Tonight's CINE-CAFE will be the twenty-third edition of this all-shorts screening event to be held at our current venue in Rathmines, D6. It will start at its usual time of 8pm and will as always comprise a screening of a large selection of recent short films. The event will take place in the lounge of the Uppercross House Hotel, which is just beside Mother Reilly's bar/bistro at 30 Upper Rathmines Road.
If you're anywhere near the area, why not drop by to view some of the short films we'll be showing from 8 o'clock onwards? You could also bring along your own film work (or work-in-progress) for screening in the usual ‘POT LUCK’ section during the second half of the show.
A programme notice for tonight's show is attached and lists a number of the shorts that will be screened.
Loose, a trio of young musicians, do a regular gig next door in Mother Reilly's on Monday nights, playing what they themselves describe as 'trad with a twist' from around 9.45pm or so - they're certainly going strong by 10 o'clock - until closing time. So why not make a night of it, catching the two different events at the one venue? Start the evening with a visit to CINE-CAFE in the hotel's lounge from 8pm onwards (as it's screening only short films, people can come and go during the event) and then end the night with a move downstairs to the bar to hear the band playing their post-Riverdance style of traditional music there. Food is available until 10pm, and the bar stocks the usual range of beverages.
CINE-CAFE is now in its third year as a showcase for short films. 
 
 
OTHER NEWS:
 (largely taken from IFTN news items again this week):
 
- The Irish Film Board is currently inviting applications for a new Chief Executive Officer who will start with the group next January. The move coincides with the conclusion of the five year term of appointment of current CEO, Simon Perry. Applications for the role will be accepted until Friday, October 8th.
 
The CEO of the Irish Film Board (IFB) reports to the Board and assists and advises the Board in the development of policies in a bid to achieving the objectives of the agency. He or she will be expected to represent and give leadership to the IFB and the broader Irish film industry though the Irish Government, other state agencies and individual members of the public.
 
Notices publicising the vacancy state:  'candidates will require proven experience and qualifications to ensure the ongoing progress and development of a distinct and creatively led Irish filmmaking sector. Candidates will also be expected to oversee the implementation of policies to develop the broader Film and Television production industry... The ideal candidate will have strong people management, negotiation and financial management skills.'
 
Simon Perry took up the position of CEO with the IFB in 2006. In 1982, he set up his own production company and in January 1991 he was appointed chief executive of British Screen Finance (‘British Screen’), which he ran until September 2000 when it was absorbed by the UK's new Film Council (itself now apparently being terminated as part of recent cuts). Notable British Screen successes during his time as ceo included Neil Jordan's ‘The Crying Game’, Sally Potter's ‘Orlando’, Mike Leigh's ‘Naked’,  Ken Loach's ‘Land and Freedom’, and Gurinder Chadha's ‘Bend It Like Beckham’. 
 
I'm sure we all wish Mr Perry well and are grateful for his work with the IFB during his term of office.  I went into filmmaking in 2004 and I've never heard anyone say a bad word about him since he started in the job, which is probably a 'first' for any IFB ceo.
 
-  Irish cinematographer Donal Gilligan passed away yesterday (Sunday 19 September) at the age of 46, having suffered a sudden heart attack. The two-time IFTA nominee began in the industry in the early nineties and worked on dozens of projects here including ‘Omagh’, ‘Dead Bodies’, ‘Mystics’, ‘Watermelon’, ‘John McGahern: A Private World’ and 'Raw’. 
He had most recently been filming the ITV series ‘Primeval’. He is survived by his wife Charlotte and three young children.
 
-  RTE Television has announced the appointment of Mairead Ni Nuadhain to the position of Deputy Director of Programmes.  She was formerly RTE's Commissioning Editor of Irish Language, Multiculture and Education and will now take over from Mary Curtis who has moved to the position of Director of Digital Switchover.  The new Deputy Director of Programmes will play a key role in the origination, management and delivery of RTE's home-produced programmes, both in-house and commissioned, working closely with the Director of Programmes Steve Carson. 
 
The position was filled after an open competition. I myself recall seeing a notice of the job's advertisement as an item on IFTN News last month (posted there on the 17th August) with a stated deadline of 30th August.  The job listing on the RTE careers website was said therein to describe the kind of traits being sought in candidates as follows 'The successful candidate will have a strong commitment to public service broadcasting and have significant editorial and programme team management experience. S/he will possess a track record in developing innovative programming and a thorough understanding of the television production and commissioning process. A clear understanding of managing television output in a changing regulatory and competitive environment along with exceptional organisational and people management skills are essential to this role.'  A working knowledge of Irish was also desirable.
 
-  Blinder Films is currently in pre-production with ‘Citadel’.  This will be writer/director Ciaran Foy's debut feature and it is a psychological horror feature that will be filmed in November in Glasgow.  Katie Holly ('One Hundred Mornings', 'Sensation') is the producer for Blinder Films; Scotland's Sigma Films will be represented too.  Ciaran Foy has already written and directed several shorts including ‘Scumbot’, ‘1902’ and ‘The Faeries of Blackheath Woods’, which will be known to CINE-CAFE regulars and won awards at the Brest European Short Film Festival, the Luxembourg International Film Festival, the Cork and Kerry film festivals and Melbourne's Underground Film Festival. The film's budget of just under €3 million being funded by the Irish Film Board (€600,000) and Scottish Screen along with tax credits.
 
-  Writer/Director Shane McCabe's feature script ‘Probable Cause’, was recently placed third at the 24th Annual Write Movies International Writing Competition in LA.  The whodunit thriller was selected from over a thousand internationally submitted scripts and is set off the Florida Keys. Shane's other script, ‘The Base’ , will reportedly go into production next year.  Shane told IFTN that the festival organizers will now actively pitch the winning scripts to all the major studios, as well as many production companies. Shane's script for ‘The Base’ won the  top prize at the Back in the Box Screenwriting Competition in 2009 and will go into production next year with Shane attached to direct.
 
According to IFTN's full story, an acting role in ‘Veronica Guerin’ inspired Shane to go on to write, direct and produce, and he has to date written six features and numerous shorts.  ‘Shane wrote, produced and directed his first short 'Lucky Escape’  in 2007 as a four-minute film using an all-Irish cast and crew and filmed in Rathfarnham.  Regulars of CINE-CAFE may recall seeing it there on several occasions as Shane kindly lent me a copy quite soon after we started our screenings.  We wish him the best of luck with this latest break.
 
-  Irish actress Saoirse Ronan left for New York last Thursday to prepare for her role in new feature film ‘Violet and Daisy'  to be directed by Geoffrey Fletcher. The film starts shooting on September 27th and will see Saoirse play the role of Daisy alongside James Gandolfini.
The film centres around two teenage assassins who are hired to kill a target. 
 
-   Watch out for Brendan Muldowney's debut feature ‘Savage’ which went on release in  selected cinemas here last Friday. Written and directed by Brendan Muldowney in his feature film debut, The film, which examines the far-reaching effects of a violent attack on Darren Healy's character - Paul Graynor, a press photographer who lives and works in Dublin - marks Muldowney's move from shorts to feature films and has been on the festival circuit, with screenings at festivals in both Finland and Sweden during the summer.  CINE-CAFE's regulars will likely be familiar with most of Brendan Muldowney's shorts such as 'The Ten Steps', 'Final Journey', 'The Honourable Scaffolder', 'Innocence' and 'Beauty Queen', all produced by Conor Barry for SP Films: the award-winning director - producer team kindly lent a dvd collection of them to us way back in 2008 for screening in the very early days of Pint&Pic and CINE-CAFE.   I first saw 'Savage' at the JDIFF in February and I can heartily recommend it:  I certainly plan to catch it again during this run. 
 
-  The San Francisco Irish Film Festival, which began in 2004, takes place this year from the 23rd to the 25th of September, and plans to present the best in contemporary Irish cinema, showing everything from features to documentaries to Irish language films. The schedule for this year so far includes Ian Fitzgibbon's ‘A Film With Me In It’ which is to  launch the festival this Thursday at 9pm. This will be followed by a screening of ‘The Bass Player’ (dir Niall McKay) and Conor Horgan's ‘One Hundred Mornings’ on Friday (24th). The last day of the festival this September (25th) a screening of Ken Wardrop's ‘His & Hers’ is scheduled along with a Q&A session with some of the featured filmmakers. The festival used to take place in March but now has been moved to September.  I'm reliably informed that Conor Horgan will be one of those attending.  Regulars will recall seeing several of Conor's short films - 'The Last Time', 'Happiness' and 'About Beauty'  - at CINE-CAFE and Conor has kindly done a Q&A session with us at that event (and another at a Pint&Pic). 
 
 -   We mentioned here some weeks ago that Conor Horgan's ‘One Hundred Mornings’  had won the inaugural WorkBook Project Discovery and Distribution Award.  This new award seeks to highlight an outstanding film that it is felt has been overlooked in terms of US distribution and the winning film receives a theatrical release at the Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles complete with full social media, street team and PR support.  Produced by Katie Holly for Bl!nder Films and written and directed by Conor Horgan, ‘One Hundred Mornings’ was chosen from submissions from all over the world to receive the award, having earlier picked up awards at Galway Film Fleadh 2009, at Slamdance 2010 in January this year and at the 2010 IFTAs.  We mentioned in August that it had just won the Vortex sci-fi award and since then its festival run has been continuing in recent weeks with screenings at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in August and the San Francisco Irish Film Festival this week (see above).  It began its WorkBook-awarded theatrical run in Los Angeles last Thursday (16th).
 
-  Don't forget CultureNight 2010 this Friday.  I'm working as a volunteer later this week in the run-up to the big night and I'll be working at an info point on the night itself. 
 
- Don't dare forget Ranelagh Arts Festival 2010 starts this Friday as well.  The main film screening day is on the final Saturday 2nd October (the festival ends on the 3rd) and I'll be detailing the films next week.  Visit www.ranelagharts.org for the online programme of all festival events this year.  I'm putting on the Positive Ageing Photo Exhibition again at this year's  festival, having borrowed it once again from Age Action Ireland - it was when working in their head office back in 2003/4 (while on the run from my erstwhile legal career) that I decided to take the plunge and go into filmmaking - for the week commencing Monday 27th September.  It'll be on display in the festival's HQ at 26 Ranelagh (beside Superquinn in the main street, just down from the Luas stop), so feel free to drop by for a free look at some very good pictures. 
 
Best
Howard
 
  

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