The View from Ireland Shared Island Films

By Maurice Fit zpat rick

On Decem ber 10t h, 2022, t he Online Safet y and Media Regulat ion Act (2022) w as signed int o law.

The law is an essent ial st ep t ow ards enabling t he governm ent t o levy (t ax) st ream ers such as Net flix, w hich could provide a new fund for Irish film product ion of a project ed 30 m illion euro (32.2 m illion dollars). The financial st im ulus for t he Irish film indust ry prom pt s quest ions about how t he new fund w ill be used and w hat fram ew orks t he new Media Com m ission, Screen Ireland and t elevision channels w ill adopt t o adm inist er it largely for t he independent sect or ? 80% of t he fund w ould be allocat ed t o independent producers.

The Media Com m ission and t he Depart m ent of Cult ure have already det erm ined t hat 25% of t he funding w ill be for Irish language film s and program m ing. This w ill consolidat e t he hugely successful Cine4 feat ure dram a st rand, current ly co-financed b yt he Irish language channel TG4, Screen Ireland and t he Broadcast ing Aut horit y of Ireland. That program m e has seen Irish language film s such as An Cailín Ciúin/ The Quiet Girl and Arracht / Monster gain global dist ribut ion and recognit ion for t he first t im e? t he form er has just becom e t he first Irish language film t o be short list ed for best int ernat ional film at t his year ?s Academ y Aw ards

In addit ion t o Irish language film product ion, t here is an opport unit y t o creat e film s t hat can address an urgent need our island now has. A film fund ring-fenced for film project s on t he t hem e of our shared island could help t o cont ribut e t o a nat ional debat e t hat w ill only grow in im port ance in t he com ing years. Such film s w ould challenge t he im aginat ions of film m akers and, in t urn, audiences? percept ion of t hem selves and t heir nat ional ident it y Our publicly funded t elevision channels could in t urn provide bot h addit ional funding and a plat form for t he film s and t elevision program m es, fulfilling part of t heir public service m edia rem it Funding bodies such as Screen Ireland and BAI?s m andat e is t ocom m ission film s and t elevision program m es t hat relat e t o Irish cult ure, herit age and experience That chim es w ell w it h film s t hat seek t o im agine anddepict Iour island?s shared cult ure and shared fut ure

It w ould be hard t o argue against t he proposit ion t hat t here w ill be a form of deeper unit y in Ireland in t he com ing decade(s). That w ill ent ail huge psychological and cult ural challenges, in addit ion t o t he m any econom ic, polit ical and social issues t hat arise from a fundam ent al const it ut ional change Film m akers can play a role in exploring com plex feelings about cult ural ident it y and in shaping t he percept ions of t he count ry in t heir film s This const it ut es a dist inct ive challenge for Irish film m akers t oday It also present s t he prospect of innovat ive art ist ic w orks t hat explore seem ingly int ract able polit ical t hem es and express t he dilem m as facedby people t hrough t heir film s

At several junct ures in t he 20t h cent ury, from t he Irish Lit erary Revival t o Field Day, Irish art ist s at t em pt ed t o envisage new form s of nat ionhood t hrough t heir w rit ings and t heat re product ions in advance of difficult polit ical birt hs.Playw right Brian Friel once said in int erview w it h Fint an O?Toole t hat t he w rit ing and t heat re in w hich he and his collaborat ors w ere engagedin t he 1980s?should lead t o a cult ural st at e, not a polit ical st at e. And I t hink out of t hat cult ural st at e, a possibilit y of a polit ical st at e follow s That is alw ays t he sequence? I t hink t hey are serious issues and big issues?

We are now at a sim ilar junct ure in t he 21st cent ury. The disrupt ions of Brexit , t he orient at ion of t he Nort h t ow ards Europe despit e it s exit from t he EU and t he ongoing uncert aint y t hat surrounds it s econom ic st at us all deepen t he doubt about it s long-t erm polit ical viabilit y. Film m akers can play a role in envisaging a cult ural st at e t hrough t he creat ion of film s and discussion fora t o debat e t hem Such film s and debat es could have a pedagogical significance, creat ing space for an open explorat ion of our cult ure t hat polit ical logjam s and st andoffs have hindered Clare Dw yer Hogg?s short film ,Brexit: A Cry from the Irish Border, st arring St ephen Rea, is an exam ple of an engaged film art t hat has ent ered cont ent ious polit ical space and given voice t o people m ost affect ed by t he recent polit ical upheavals in Ireland

IRISH FILM LAW Continued

That film w as com m issioned by t he F inancial Times new spaper

It is now t he t urn of film funding bodies t o explicit ly w elcom e and support such film s.

A Shared Island film init iat ive w ould nat urally align w it h several of t he object ives of t he Shared Island Unit , a unit in t he Depart m ent of t he Taoiseach, w hich has succeeded in engaging a diverse body of people in it s project . Cross-border infrast ruct ural project s and research project s bet w een universit ies on bot h sides of t he border are of clear benefit t o people across t he island. Over t he past decade, t he Irish film indust ry has sponsored init iat ives such as Enhanced Product ion Funding for fem ale-led film s as w ell as film m aking in ? t he regions? , am ong ot hers. These init iat ives helped us t o re-t hink t he w ay w e approach film s and film product ion. Film m aking is collaborat ive by it s nat ure and cross-border film product ion provisions w ould form a pract ical dim ension t o com plem ent t he art ist ic object ives of t he com m issioned film s

Many polit ical difficult ies at t end t he Irish unit y debat e. Unionist polit icians, for exam ple, can be punished by t heir base for speaking about Irish unit y from t he presum pt ion t hat it could icom e nt o being Sim ilarly, som e funders m ay recoil from t he prospect of est ablishing a funding st rand t hat m ay appear overt ly polit ical Undoubt edly, som e degree of cont roversy w ill arise from film s t hat probe t he cult ural ident it y of a people w hose polit ical aspirat ions have t radit ionally been m ut ually exclusive. How ever, t he Irish film has grow n robust in t he past decade, and it now has t he confidence and resources required t o illum inat e a com plex but vit al nat ional debat e.

Tesources:

w w w.screenireland.ie