Screen Directors Guild of Ireland

Screen Directors Guild of Ireland launches its exciting 2012 events programme

The Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) is delighted to announce a new programme of public and exclusive events in 2012 that which will showcase the work of Irish directors in Ireland, Berlin, Annecy and Los Angeles.

The programme includes a variety of events including exclusive screenings and masterclasses with renowned Irish film and TV directors including Ciaran Donnelly (Camelot, Titanic: Blood & Steel), Lenny Abrahansom (Adam and Paul, Garage), Kirsten Sheridan (Disco Pigs, August Rush), Jason Tammemägi (Fluffy Gardens, Punky) and Kevin Godley (U2: The Best of 1990-2000, The Best of Blur).

Following last year’s successful partnership with the Irish Film Institute, the two organisations will keep working together in 2012 on a series of public events including family screenings and Skype conversations with international directors.

One of the highlights of the year is SDGI’s partnership with the Annecy International Animation Film Festival to pay special tribute to Irish animation at the world-renowned festival in Annecy, France. Irish animation features, short films and TV programs will be seen by the leading players in the animation industry at its annual festival and market in June.

Other international partnerships include the St. Patrick’s Festival in Berlin, which will feature a small programme of contemporary Irish films as part of its programme in March and the annual Directors Finders Series run in association with the Directors Guild of America. This event will present an Irish feature director a unique opportunity to screen his/her film in September in the prestigious DGA Theatre, Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles to key distributors & film industry representatives in an effort to gain a US distribution deal.

Ciaran Donnelly, Chairman says: “We are delighted to be launching an exciting programme of events for 2012 that present an opportunity for audiences and fellow directors to engage with directors and their work in a meaningful way.”

Established in 2000, the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) is the representative body for Directors involved in the Irish and international audiovisual industry. These include Directors of feature films, fiction, animation documentary, television drama, short films, video art and commercials. The ethos of the Guild is inclusive and proactive in encouraging a dynamic and supportive forum for directors to discuss their ideas or concerns and has grown to become a forum for very positive dialogue about making films.

For full programme click here

Date: Monday 30th January 2012
Time: 7pm
Venue: SDGI Screening Room, 43 Temple Bar, Dublin 2 (See map)

The Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) and The Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild (IPSG) invite their members to the Animation Networking Event where Directors and Writers will get together to build up relationships that may result in collaborations in the field of animation.

This is a new initiative that will happen on a regular basis. All directors and writers working or interested in working in animation are welcome with a maximum of ten to twelve meeting on any one night due to the venue's capacity.

Please email Lindsay Jane Sedgwick at ljsedgwick66@gmail.com to confirm your attendance.

Directors Finders Series Winner Frank Berry presents his film 'Ballymun Lullaby' in conversation with fellow director Ken Wardrop on Monday 12th December at 7pm in the SDGI Screening Room.

This is an exclusive screening for SDGI members preceding the film's cinema release on 16th December.

Please confirm your attendance to fernanda@sdgi.ie by Friday 9th December.

For more information on Ballymun Lullaby visit www.ballymunlullabythefilm.com

Oscar nominated director Louis Marcus (Conquest of Light, Paisti ag obair) has been awarded a special prize for his outstanding work in the Irish language last night at the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) Annual Meeting of Directors, which took place in Fallon & Byrne in Dublin.

This is a new initiative by SDGI in partnership with Foras na Gaeilge which aims to award directors for their contribution to Irish film, TV and the Irish language. Louis Marcus was presented with a plaque and a prize of €5,000 by fellow directors including Oliver Hirschbeigel, Dearbhla Walsh, Paddy Breathnach, Lenny Abrhamson and Ciaran Donnelly.

"For myself, I'm greatly honoured to receive this award from my fellow directors and Foras na Gaeilge.  But I think it also highlights the tremendous support of the Irish-language sector for serious documentary production from the pioneering days of Gael Linn to the TG4 of today." Said Louis Marcus.

Born in Cork in 1936, Louis Marcus began his film career in Dublin in 1958 as assistant editor on Mise Éire and Saoirse? and made his own first film in 1959 on the sculptor, Seamus Murphy RHA. From 1960 to 1973 he made short cinema documentaries for Gael-Linn, and has worked since then for television and corporate patrons. His subjects have included social life, Irish traditions, history and the Arts. He has now made over 80 documentaries winning some 20 international awards including the Silver Bear of the Berlin Film Festival, prizes at Moscow, London, Chicago and Oberhausen, and two Academy Award Nominations.

“Louis Marcus has made outstanding work and we are delighted to be to honouring him today.” Said Birch Hamilton, SDGI’s Executive Director.

Deirdre Davitt, Programme Manager for the Arts, Foras na Gaeilge said “Foras na Gaeilge would like to publicly acknowledge the enormous contribution Louis Marcus has made to the Irish language film and television sector over the past 50 years and to thank the SDGI for the opportunity to do so”.

Louis Marcus’ cinema work has had international distribution through United Artists and Columbia Pictures; his television work has appeared on RTÉ, TG4, Ulster Television and Channel Four, with distribution by Thames Television International.

Recent works include Cosc ar Ghnéas/A Ban on Sex, No Rootless Colonists/Na Gaeil-Phrostatúnaigh, Christ Church Through the Ages and a triptych treatment of the annual Fleadh Cheoil for the Brú Ború Centre in Cashel.

In 1995 he received the Irish Film Institute’s Annual Award, and at the 50th Cork Film Festival in 2005 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award and a retrospective of his work. He was elected to the Hollywood Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and is an honorary member of the Royal Hibernian Academy. Over the years he has served on several state arts boards including the Abbey Theatre Shareholders, the Foreign Relations Committee and the Arts Council, and is a former Chairperson of Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board.

The Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) is delighted to welcome German director Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall, Five Minutes of Heaven) to Dublin on Tuesday 22nd November at their Annual Meeting of Directors.

Oliver Hirschbiegel will be the guest of honour of SDGI’s Annual Meeting of Directors where he will be presented with an honorary membership of the Irish Guild. The German director will join Irish directors in a guest-only dialogue, which will be moderated by fellow director Dearbhla Walsh (Little Dorrit, The Tudors).

One of the highlights of the night will be the SDGI and Foras na Gaeilge  Award which will award an Irish director with a €5,000 for his/her outstanding work in the Irish language. The winner will be announced on the night by SDGI Board member Paddy Breathnach.

The event will also launch a new partnership between SDGI and ARRI Alexa cameras, which will support directors with free use of their state-of-the-art equipment.

Birch Hamilton, SDGI’s Executive Director says: “Directors are the lifeblood of the digital age and despite the landscape of film and TV changing, the director is the fulcrum around which a strong and vibrant film and TV industry is built.”

Established in 2000, the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) is the representative body for Directors involved in the Irish and international audiovisual industry. These include Directors of feature films, fiction, animation documentary, television drama, short films, video art and commercials. The ethos of the Guild is inclusive and proactive in encouraging a dynamic and supportive forum for directors to discuss their ideas or concerns and has grown to become a forum for very positive dialogue about making films.