My fondness and admiration for the extremely high quality of Irish films being produced is well documented throughout my posts in this blog and hopefully by the end of this article it will be abundantly clear why!
Firstly, by promoting an Irish product of any sort, it's usually primarily economic reasons, that dictate the need to support "local" and even though that is also true in this case ( something I will allude to later), that should not be the main reason to hand over your hard earned cash to catch an Irish movie, the truth is - they're actually pretty damned good!
Traditionally Ireland is a land of great storytellers, so it should come as no surprise that we create great film. Culturally, in all fields (writers, musicians etc) we have punched above our weight for years, so why is such a surprise to some that the Irish film industry (despite the monumental financial backing that other countries enjoy) can compete globally in terms of quality produced.
Just take the last two years for instance - 2016 saw Irish director Lenny Abrahamson and writer Emma O'Donoghue as well as actress Saoirse Ronan all Oscar nominated, whilst 2017 has seen the film Sing Street and actor Colin Farrell achieve a Golden Globe nominations whilst actress Ruth Negga was also Oscar nominated.
On all aspects of cinema , this country is simply blessed with talent. We have consistently produced extremely talented directors with the likes of Jim Sheridan, John Boorman and Neil Jordan now being joined by a glut of directorial talent in the shape of the aforementioned Lenny Abrahamson, along with such talents as John Carney, Martin McDonagh, Peter Foott, John Butler and Mark O'Connor to name just a few.
Front of camera, any country that can boast names like Brendan Gleeson, Michael Fassbender, Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Negga has to be very proud of it's artistic talent.
The quality of film being produced in Ireland is now slap bang in the middle of a purple patch with every strand of filmmaking in this country, from the indie movie touring the film festival circuit to the strongly funded main stream film all showcasing all that is great in Irish cinema.
From indie films that have now found their way to nationwide cinema screens like the brilliant "Twice Shy" and "Cardboard Gangsters" to the more main stream cinema hits such as "Handsome Devil" and "Sing Street" are all prime examples of what Irish cinema is currently all about.
Film Funding in this country has taken quite a hit in the last few years and financial cutbacks taken at the time for the various strands of film making( be it local film festivals, independent films etc ) will never be returned, so therefore it is of great importance that the viewing public in this country, choose that Irish movie over that Hollywood blockbuster or support that local film festival and maybe get a preview of that next Irish cinematic gem and give the financial aid that this talented industry so badly needs and not because it's supporting an Irish product (which is also a good reason!) but because it's another chance to see what a talented bunch us Irish actually are!!
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