The Arts Council should support the exhibition of a wider range of international cinema, including Irish-made films, at venues around the State, according to a report presented yesterday at a reception in the Arts Council's headquarters on Merrion Square.
The report, Film in Ireland - the Role of the Arts Council, was compiled by Scottish consultant Ms Erika King and deals with a broad range of topics, including media education, film exhibition, critical debate, film festivals, North/South initiatives, and film production awards.
In response, the Arts Council has now established a cinema exhibition fund, which will offer a number of fixed-term funding franchises to cinemas, arts centres, film societies and festivals. The scheme, which will operate on a pilot basis in 1998, will be followed by a feasibility study in association with the Irish Film Board to examine options for creating means to widen choice for cinema audiences throughout Ireland.
The 50-page report also recommends the appointment of a full-time film officer by the council and a restructuring of its Film and Video Awards, along with potentially controversial recommendations on the council's funding of magazines like Film Ireland and Film West, on the role of the Film Institute of Ireland in promoting critical debate, and on the future relationship between the Dublin Film Festival and the Irish Film Centre.
Prof Ciaran Benson, chairman of the Arts Council, who introduced the report, said it "will form the basis for discussion on film at the Planning for the Arts Consultative Forum in the Grand Hotel, Malahide, on the morning of Friday, May 8th."
Splanc!, a new scheme jointly funded by TnaG and the Arts Council to support the making of innovative documentaries about the contemporary and traditional arts in Ireland, was also announced at the reception by Mr Padhraig O Ciardha of TnaG.
