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Filmmaking in Focus: Stephen Frears Public Interview and Ford Writers Panel at the John Ford Ireland - Film Symposium Saturday June 9

In association with Bord Scannán na hEireann/the Irish Film Board

Filmmaking will be the focus of Saturday at the John Ford Ireland Film - Symposium, when leading directors and writers (Stephen Frears, Pat McCabe, Colin Bateman, Eoghan Harris and Ian Power) meet in Dublin to discuss their craft and the ongoing influence of John Ford - an industry day filmmakers in all fields should attend.

Stephen Frears Public Interview
Saturday 12:00noon Project Arts Centre.

Stephen Frears' rich and varied career (High Fidelity, The Queen, The Snapper and Dangerous Liaisons) has found him criss-crossing genres and media with effortless style and winning results. He has received Academy Award nominations for films as diverse as neo-noir The Grifters and biopic The Queen, and won plaudits for television dramas such as the politically-charged The Deal and live teleplay Fail Safe starring George Clooney. Frears has also made a number of contributions to Irish cinema, including classics The Snapper and The Van, and he helped launch the career of Daniel Day Lewis with My Beautiful Laundrette.

This public interview, hosted by the RTÉ Guide's Michael Doherty, will provide attendees with a unique opportunity to hear Frears discuss his work and offer insights on filmmaking. On the occasion of the John Ford Ireland - Film Symposium, Frears will also discuss his entry to the Western canon, The Hi-Lo Country.

Ford Writers Panel - McCabe, Bateman, Harris & Power
Saturday 2:00pm IFI

A group of Irish cinema's most interesting screenwriters will meet to discuss the legacy of John Ford, and how we can still learn lessons from this master filmmaker. The panel will feature celebrated author Pat McCabe, whose novels The Butcher Boy and Breakfast on Pluto were adapted into equally lauded films. Colin Bateman is the best-selling author who has adapted a number of his darkly humorous crime stories for the screen, including Murphy's Law and Divorcing Jack. Ian Power wrote and directed the heart-warming Irish film The Runway, which, like The Quiet Man, featured a small Irish town rocked by an exotic visitor. Writer, director, columnist and politician Eoghan Harris lectures in screenwriting at the National Film School and also penned the TV series Sharpe. Through the use of specially selected clips from a host of Ford's classics these writers will discuss the director's films and lasting influence in a panel discussion facilitated by Seán Rocks, presenter of Arena on RTÉ Radio 1.

Full details about these Industry events (and all events during the Symposium), check the website http://www.johnfordireland.org/