December 2023
Irish-Australian Arts News
December 2023
What a year it’s been!
Another successful Irish Film Festival has finished and while the team have been busy wrapping up the festival and completing reports, there’s been mountains of Irish news – so much that we couldn’t possibly cover it all in this newsletter.
For many of us, the tragic passing of The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan was a major milestone. IFF director Enda Murray remembers Shane below.
There’s lots of entertainment to watch over the Christmas/New Year period or if you’d prefer to read, an Irish author has won The Booker Prize 2023. We have other cultural news and have put together an events diary for 2024 too.
RIP Shane MacGowan
The passing of Shane McGowan brought back many memories of Shane’s performances over the years. In the documentary, Crock of Gold, there is a sequence recorded at London’s Town and Country Club on Paddy’s Night 1988, of the Pogues in their prime. I happened to be at this gig, writing for Ireland’s Hot Press magazine at the time. What struck me was the intensity of the reception for Shane McGowan and the band from the hundreds of young people in the audience that night. I had been in England for 3 years at that point and one thing I do remember was that it was not easy or pleasant to be Irish in England in the 80’s. The war in Northern Ireland was almost 20 years old and the IRA ‘mainland’ bombing campaign was at its height. But for these youngsters, many of whom were second generation Irish, they had at last found something Irish to be proud of. Someone who spoke for them. Someone who took the Irish drinking, fighting stereotype and threw it back into the face of the establishment. McGowan’s articulation of the experiences of the Irish diaspora was one of his major songwriting talents. Whether it was a Fairytale of New York or a Rainy Night in Soho he managed to capture the tangled love affair that Irish ex-pats have with their country of origin. As band-mate Phil Chevron put it in ‘Thousands are sailing’.
‘Where e’er we go, we celebrate
The land that makes us refugees
From fear of priests with empty plates
From guilt and weeping effigies’.
Ár lámh dheis go raibh a anam dílis.
Watch our Q&A with Crock of Gold director Julien Temple here.
You can watch the full Crock of Gold film on FetchTV, Amazon Prime Video or AppleTV.
IFF Q&As on YouTube
As part of the Irish film festival we conducted 10 Q&As will the directors & stars of the films featured in the festival.
The interviews will be uploaded to our Youtube page once a month with the first two already live.
Ballywalter
Joyride
You can also check out our 2023 Irish Film Festival Playlist which includes our festival trailer, director & actor shoutouts, and trailers for all the films shown in this year’s festival.
The Sixth Commandment
Lakelands star Eanna Hardwicke stars in BBC series The Sixth Commandment which was buzzing in Ireland earlier this year.
It is available to watch in Australia via Binge.
Taking Roots (Music) to Australia
The IFF original film Taking Roots (Music) to Australia – An Irish and Ghanaian Celebration had it’s online launch on Friday November 24. The short doco is now available on YouTube.
Other Stories
- 2024 EVENTS DIARY!
check out our events diary for 2024 which includes some Irish artists going on national tours next year.
- The Irish Independent drops its definitive top 30 list of the best Irish films of all time. The list features many films which have featured in past Irish Film Festivals including Wolkwalkers, An Cailín Ciúin, Sing Street, Brooklyn, The Commitments, and the 2022 Irish hit The Banshees of Inisherin.
See the full list here.
- Barry Keoghan, an Oscar nominated Irish actor, has a new film Saltburn about a student who is invited to an eccentric classmate’s estate for an exciting summer. The film is off to a good start with some Golden Globe nominations, including one for Keoghan. Will he receive another Oscar nom? only time will tell.
- Not too long ago The Booker Prize 2023 was awarded to Limerick born author Paul Lynch for his book Prophet Song. Grab a copy of the book here.
- Sinead O’Connor documentary, Nothing Compares, wins Rose d’Or award
rte.ie/entertainment/2023/1128/1418853-sinead-oconnor-documentary-wins-rose-dor-award
- Co-Director of Taking Roots (Music) to Australia and IFF team member Natalie received the Celtic Council of Australia’s Duine Uasal award at their Celtic Honours luncheon in November. Congratulations Natalie!
- The Opera House celebrated it’s 50th Anniversary this year, and as part of that celebration Irish design engineer, Peter Rice (born in Dundalk), was recognised.
anpost.com/Media-Centre/News/An-Post-stamp-marks-Sydney-Opera-House-50th-annive
- For those who missed the news, Ireland participated in the Rugby World Cup held over September and October. In their first game of the competition, Ireland beat Romania by a massive 82 -8. They then went on to beat Tonga, South Africa and Scotland. The Irish played New Zealand in the quarter-finals and lost the match 24-28.
rugbyworldcup.com/2023/video/877491/top-ireland-tries-of-the-rugby-world-cup-2023-group-stages
Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain Faoi Mhaise daoibh go léir!
(Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year)
Slán agus beannacht
Enda Murray
Director Irish Film Festival
