Peter Bogdanovich, Stephen Frears, Jim Sheridan & John Boorman salute movie legend at John Ford Ireland Film Symposium
Leading international filmmakers and film experts will gather in Dublin, Ireland from 7th – 10th June to participate in the Inaugural JOHN FORD IRELAND FILM SYMPOSIUM & FESTIVAL – the first event of its kind in the world, a gathering to honour and learn from one of the world’s greatest filmmakers, John Ford, who is considered the most influential director in American cinema history.
The Irish Film & Television Academy is delighted to welcome speakers to Dublin next week, including Peter Bogdanovich, Stephen Frears, Jim Sheridan, John Boorman, Joel Cox, Thaddeus O’Sullivan, Brian Kirk, Pat McCabe, Colin Bateman, Ian Power and Eoghan Harris; award winning composers Christopher Caliendo and Kyle Eastwood; Oscar®-winning editor Joel Cox and Ireland’s living screen legend Maureen O’Hara.
All events are open to the public and tickets are now on sale.
John Ford Ireland was brought about by the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) over three years ago, contacting and engaging Ford experts and enthusiasts all around the world, meeting firstly with the Ford family in US who are so delighted and honoured to work with the Academy and to be bringing the legacy of John Ford home to Ireland:
On Thursday, 7th June the National Concert Hall welcomes the Minister for Arts Jimmy Deenihan, John Ford’s grandson Dan Ford, IFTA Chief Executive Áine Moriarty and a host of special guests to the Gala Opening Night of this Inaugural Symposium. Christopher Caliendo conducts the RTÉ Concert Orchestra with his own score, specially commissioned by 20th Century Fox, of Ford’s early epic western The Iron Horse. This film and accompanying score was hailed as ‘an astounding achievement’ by the New York Times.
Friday, 8th June, kicks off with The John Ford Lecture, presented by acclaimed historian and biographer Joseph McBride. The lecture entitled ‘John Ford, Poet and Comedian’, draws inspiration from Orson Welles’ description of the legendary Irish-American film director. More highlights of Friday’s programme include the Ford Film Hub Directors Panel, with Jim Sheridan, John Boorman, Thaddues O’Sullivan and Brian Kirk; a Public Interview with the Oscar®-nominated director (and friend of John Ford) Peter Bogdanovich; and an exclusive showing of Upstream, Ford’s 1927 drama that was re-discovered in the New Zealand Film Archive in 2009 and screens for the very first time in Ireland. The day ends with an outdoor screening of classic western The Searchers in Dublin’s Meeting House Square.
The Western, the film genre that Ford is particularly renowned for, is the spotlight on Saturday, 9th June: with a first look screening of AMC’s drama series Hell On Wheels (starring Colm Meaney); a screening of Fort Apache, the first in Ford’s famous Cavalry trilogy; and we will be ‘In Conversation With …’ BAFTA and Oscar®-nominated director Stephen Frears, discussing his career as a filmmaker, directing projects such as The Hi-Lo Country, The Queen, and The Snapper, and his thoughts on Ford. Later, celebrate the 20th Anniversary screening of Clint Eastwood’s multi-award winning revisionist western Unforgiven. Special guests at this event include the film’s Oscar winning editor Joel Cox, Empire Magazine’s Kim Newman and Kyle Eastwood, who will discuss Eastwood’s interpretation of Ford’s classic genre.
More Saturday highlights see Irish Writers Pat McCabe, Colin Bateman, Ian Power and Eoghan Harris meet to discuss the Ford films that inspired their work; The Abbey Theatre opens its doors to interested visitors who can learn more about Ford’s relationship with the Abbey Players (including Barry Fitzgerald, etc.); Composers Kyle Eastwood and Christopher Caliendo discuss Music for the Screen, and the Kyle Eastwood Band perform a special gig at the Button Factory.
Sunday, 10th June is a special day focussing on Ford’s Irish projects with a showing of Oscar®-winning IRA-drama The Informer* and the Dublin Premiere of Sé Merry Doyle’s new documentary John Ford: Dreaming the Quiet Man, attended by the director, Peter Bogdanovich and Dan Ford. Finally, the 60th Anniversary screening of John Ford’s famous, and perhaps most personal feature film, The Quiet Man* closes the John Ford Ireland Film Symposium with Hollywood royalty Maureen O’Hara attending.
Tickets for the John Ford Ireland Film Symposium are from €3 and are available to purchase at www.johnfordireland.org, www.nch.ie and www.ifi.ie or call + 353 1 6624120.
For further information about these and all of the John Ford Ireland Film Symposium events visit www.johnfordireland.org
John Ford Ireland is supported by: Department of Arts, Tourism Ireland, British Airways, Dublin City Council, US Embassy, Fáilte Ireland, National Concert Hall, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Abbey Theatre, Shelbourne Hotel, STI, IFI, ScreenScene, Wells Cargo, Piranha Bar, IFTN.
*In partnership with the IFI
