Film Ireland

History

Film Ireland began publication in 1987 under the title Filmbase News. The magazine was initially a photocopied newsletter distributed to members of the organisation. The first issue contained news about current short and feature film productions, information on funding schemes, and film festival reports. According to the magazine's first editor, Johnny Gogan (who shared the credit "compiled by" with Mike Collins and John Gormley in early issues): "The 1987 Film Base AGM had called for a better distribution of information to the growing membership. Ireland was a word-of-mouth culture where information was guarded and opinions often verbalised on bar-stools but less often committed to print. The film scene was no exception. Vinny McCabe and Mike Collins had taken up the cause of a newsletter after the AGM and I was dragged in to assist their information sub-committee, joined by John Gormley (now TD)".

In 1992, after thirty issues, Filmbase News changed its name to Film Ireland. Editor Patrick Barrett explained that the change of name was intended to reflect the magazine's widening audience, but former editor Johnny Gogan later stated that "the name change [was] presented as a fait accompli to the board and the organisation". Gogan opposed the move to make the publication into a national magazine "out of a belief in the parochial which has endured", while later editor Hugh Linehan considered it "a progressive and ambitious move, but one which threw up its own challenges".

Other editors of the magazine have included Paul Power, who maintained the magazine's status as a journal of record by keeping "local writers, directors, and producers in the frame of almost every story"; Hugh Linehan, who went on to edit "The Ticket", the weekly entertainment supplement of The Irish Times; Ted Sheehy, Ireland correspondent of Screen International, "who was often critical of the lack of a professional film grammar within much Irish film production"; and Tony Keily, who believed that film criticism and publication "should be radicated in a common film culture. And the job of a publication like Film Ireland is to provide a small space for that culture to grow. A pluralist space that doesn't obviously belong to anybody".

The Film Ireland website, FilmIreland.net, was set up to complement the published magazine and, since its development, the website has grown to become one of the key online resources for Irish film. In early 2013, after over 25 years in publication, the difficult decision was made to cease publication of the magazine. Reductions in funding to Filmbase made the continued publication of the magazine unsustainable and, despite the commitment and dedication of staff, contributors and the Irish filmmaking community, the cost of maintaining the print publication was no longer possible. The decision was made to move all Film Ireland content exclusively online.

Ethos

Film academics Roddy Flynn and Pat Brereton have described Film Ireland as "a full-fledged debating space devoted to the politics of film support and film culture in Ireland", and the magazine has regularly acted as a platform for filmmakers to air their views. In recent years filmmaker Martin Duffy questioned the Irish Film Board's development of his feature film Jenny's Gift, and writer/director Liz Gill engaged in debate with Irish Film Board CEO Mark Woods regarding the Board's low and micro-budget initiatives.

Marking the magazine's twentieth anniversary in May 2007, editor Lir Mac Cárthaigh set out the magazine's core objectives, drafted by the previous editor, Tony Keily. These objectives are "To provide a detailed public record of audiovisual culture in Ireland" and "To foster Film Culture in Ireland". To these core objectives Mac Cárthaigh added three further aims: "To raise the profile of cultural cinema exhibition across the island of Ireland", "To promote awareness of and appreciation for Ireland's cinematic heritage" and "To recognise the short film as a cultural artefact, and to encourage discussion of the form".

Film Ireland is also noted for its support of lower-budget and unconventionally funded filmmaking. Low-budget Irish productions such as Karl Golden's The Honeymooners and Perry Ogden's Pavee Lackeen have been championed by the magazine, and Film Ireland was one of the first publications to write at length about John Carney's ultra-low-budget feature Once.

Editors

Editors of Film Ireland:

Irish Film Poll (2002)

To mark Film Ireland's 100th issue in 2002, the magazine conducted a poll among its readers to determine their favourite Irish feature films. The definition of "Irish" was left open, though the films had to have be released before summer 2002, and be more than 60 minutes in duration. The results were as follows:

1. The Butcher Boy (Neil Jordan, 1997)
2. Intermission (John Crowley, 2003)
3. My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan, 1989)
4. In the Name of the Father (Jim Sheridan, 1993) and I Went Down (Paddy Breathnach, 1997)
5. The Commitments (Alan Parker, 1991)
6. The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992) and Michael Collins (Neil Jordan, 1996)
7. The Field (Jim Sheridan, 1990)
8. Disco Pigs (Kirsten Sheridan, 2000) and In America (Jim Sheridan, 2003)
9. The General (John Boorman, 1998)
10. Bloody Sunday (Paul Greengrass, 2001)