Irish Talent Spotlight 2012 - Pat Collins, Ian Fitzgibbon and Brian Byrne
Each year Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) and the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival present the Irish Talent Spotlight. This initiative is designed to profile and foster exceptional new and established talent working in all areas of the Irish film industry.This year the Irish Talent Spotlight will be on the directors Pat Collins and Ian Fitzgibbon and composer Brian Byrne.
Pat Collins
Pat Collins has directed over 25 documentaries. His first film Michael Hartnett, Necklace of Wrens won the Jury Award at the Celtic Film Festival in 2000. Since then he has directed Talking to the Dead which centred on the Irish funeral tradition. This was followed by Oiléan Thoraí which won Best Irish Documentary at the IFTA's in 2003. Abbas Kiarostami: The Art of Living (co-directed with Fergus Daly) was picked up for international distribution in 2004 by the French company MK2. Rebel County used the shooting of Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes The Barley to explore the War of Independence in West Cork.
He has directed documentaries on the Irish writer Frank O'Connor, the poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and the Connemara-based writer and cartographer Tim Robinson. His film John McGahern: A Private World won Best Irish Documentary at the IFTA's in 2005. In the same year his documentary Marooned won the Best Irish Sports Documentary award. The feature documentary Gabriel Byrne: Stories from Home was completed in 2009 and the film essay What We Leave in Our Wake in 2011. He has just completed the feature film Silence.
Pat Collins' Silence will screen on Thursday 23rd February at 8.45pm in Light House 1
Ian Fitzgibbon
Born in Dublin and raised in Belgium, Ian is a graduate of Trinity College where he took a degree in French and Spanish. He trained as an actor at the world famous Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. He has a long and extensive acting career principally on English television where is credits range from Prime Suspect to Father Ted.
He began to direct ten years ago. Between Dreams, one of his first short films was selected for competition at the Venice Film Festival. He then went on to write and direct Paths to Freedom, a multi-award-winning television series for RTÉ.
His first feature, the critically acclaimed A Film With Me In It had its North American premiere at TIFF 2008. It was nominated for numerous Irish film awards and went on to win the Special Jury Prize for Best International Film at the Istanbul International Film Festival. Perrier's Bounty, his second feature, starring Brendan Gleeson, Cillian Murphy and Jim Broadbent, received its world premiere at TIFF 2010. Death of a Superhero is his third feature. He is currently shooting Threesome, a new comedy series for Big Talk / Comedy Central in London.
Ian Fitzgibbon's Death of a Superhero will be the closing film on Sunday 26th Februrary at 7.30pm in the Savoy
Brian Byrne
Award-winning composer Brian Byrne moved to LA from Ireland in July 2003 to expand his career as a film and television composer. Since then, Brian has consistently worked as a composer, conductor, songwriter, arranger and pianist in the US and in Europe.
From huge orchestral scores to minimal ensemble compositions, Brian has written music for films in many genres. He won the IFTA for his original score for the Irish Sci-Fi comedy Zonad directed by John Carney. He then scored an indie drama called The Good Doctor, starring Orlando Bloom and has just finished the score to the Oscar hopeful Albert Nobbs starring Glenn Close. Brian's previous film work includes conducting and arranging the scores to Jim Sheridan's Oscar-nominated In America, and Kirsten Sheridan's drama Disco Pigs. His varied musical credits also include a score for a short film directed by Eric Stoltz and the theme music to The Late Late Show.
Albert Nobbs will screen on Saturday 18th February at 7.30pm in the Savoy