Cork, Ireland. A beautifully restored 1700’s Neo-classical Georgian Church. Autumn 2018.
Chris O’Neill’s venue is very special and he knows how to make the most of it by bringing in any quirky mainstream flick, gritty documentary or indie short film which fall outside of the ordinary. As it is proudly displayed on the official web page : « The programme is made up of Irish and Independent films, Horror strand Twisted Celluloid and Experimental Film strand Phantascope ». In anticipation of European Art Cinema Day, a life size cutout of French director Agnes Varda with a perched cat posing in front of Dogman’s poster adorn the entrance hall.
The tone has been set and…action !
INTERVIEW with Chris O’Neill, filmmaker and Head of Cinema
Can you present your team ?
While there’s a variety of people overseeing various art forms at Triskel (music, gallery, etc) the cinema team comprises of myself as Head of Cinema (which is programming and manager of all aspects of the cinema department), a projection team of three, and four front of house staff.
Why was it important for you to join in?
A: Triskel Christchurch is a single-screen theatre in Ireland which presents arthouse cinema to our loyal audiences in the city of Cork. As Head of Cinema, I can say that the team at Triskel feel a sense of accomplishment in hosting these films at our cinema and our many patrons appreciate this too. There are hundreds of theatres doing the same throughout Europe so I believe it is important that all of us come together and celebrate this occasion.
Q: Once you’ve decided to join in, what happens? How do you build the programme (who is involved)? How does the simultaneous screenings orchestrated by the BFI work?
On average, there are 130 films screened at Triskel Christchurch each year so throughout 2018 we have programmed a multitude of titles that could have easily been scheduled for European Art Cinema Day. Therefore, it was important for us to find something special for the occasion so we programmed Faces Places (Visages Villages) by Agnès Varda since it is the latest film from an exceptional filmmaker and also the preview of Dogman by Matteo Garrone. So not only do we have the new film by Varda but also the new film by Garrone with a live-streamed Q&A coming from the BFI London Film Festival which is happening simultaneously at venues across Ireland and UK! So it’s an exceptionally good day for European cinema at Triskel Christchurch.
Q: What do you expect from EACD Day?
A: Simply that we hope the word gets out about this important event and that our customers enjoy the experience. Judging by the response so far – from the listings in our monthly cinema brochure, the trailer running in the cinema, and the pre-sales for the films we are screening for the occasion – I believe this will be the case. We look forward to taking part in future EACD events also.
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PROGRAMME OF THE DAY
5 PM Premiere of Dogman, Matteo Garonne (IT) Presented in association with Curzon and BFI London Film Festival
9 PM Face Places, Agnes Varda & JR (FR) /also at 1PM and 3PM with a discussion by the meetup group Pure Decent Films
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Website https://triskelartscentre.ie/cinema/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/triskelartscentre/
Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/1873964952718650/
Charlotte Wensierski