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| Jury duty in Dinard: from left producer Stephen Woolley, and actors Thibault de Montalembert, Amira Casar (president), Zoé Adjani and Ben Hardy. Photo: Dinard Festival of British and Irish Cinema |
Come rain or shine, the Dinard Festival of British and Irish Film has weathered the storms in its 37 years of existence on the Emerald Coast.
Despite the healthy number of tickets already sold for this year’s edition - 20,000 by last night on the official opening - the event’s raison d’être has been called into question.
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| Final red carpet for Dinard artistic director Dominique Green accompanied by Lance Daly, Irish film director and screenwriter whose latest film, Trad features in the official selection. Photo: Dinard Festival of British and Irish Cinema |
Mayor Arnaud Salmon gave a warm welcome to “our dear friends from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland to a stormy France where young people have taken to the streets,” alluding to the current national unrest over education cuts and lack of facilities.
“Youth has always had a special place here. First, because schoolchildren and students come in droves every year to attend the screenings. And second, because British and Irish Cinema observes and portrays young people very skilfully.”
He added that “in Dinard we love British and Irish cinema often more than the British and the Irish do themselves.”
Referring to the study which has just been instigated into the state of the event labouring under deficit of some €250,00, the mayor said: “37 years is a long time for a festival. It’s enough time for there to be history but it’s also young enough for there to be surprises and reinvention.” The festival was described as part of Dinard’s identity and was highly anticipated by the public every year.
“It is precisely for this reason that, as we navigate a time of transition, we are launching an independent audit. In a rapidly changing cultural landscape, asking tough questions without restrictions is essential.”
He underlined: “This is not a crisis and no decision has been made yet. We want to give this festival every chance to have a stable future, whatever form that may take.” The audit is scheduled for delivery at the end of next year.
The festival is one of the few in France that is organised and managed directly by the civic authorities, representing a significant commitment for the town in terms of both human and financial resources.
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| Dinard mayor Arnaud Salmon: “In Dinard we love British and Irish cinema often more than the British and the Irish do themselves.” Photo: Ville de Dinard |
Multi-skilled Amira Casar as president of the jury embodies the perfect mix of the festival’s identity, having grown up between the UK, Ireland and France. For Casar, described as “a magnificent bridge between the three cultures that lie at the heart of the festival,” her jury duty marks a return to the Emerald Coast - she previously served on the jury for its 11th edition when Stephen Daldry’s Billy Elliot was a prizewinner. Alongside Casar are actors Zoé Adjani, Thibault de Montalembert and Ben Hardy, and producer Stephen Woolley.
Tribute was paid to the work of artistic director Dominique Green, who is in her final year at the festival and whose choices have reflected the diversity of le cinéma britannique et irlandais. Green praised the Festival audiences as “loyal, curious, open-minded, willing to watch anything. They’re a wonderful audience and truly they will be my fondest memory.”
She could not have asked for a more appropriate film to open this year’s edition. Once Upon A Time In A Cinema is set in a small-town cinema during one eventful Friday night screening from hell. Over the course of one evening, the film follows the travails of beleaguered cinema owner Earl Clancy (Colin Morgan) as he faces a myriad disasters, any one of which could sink him.
Writer/director David Gleeson explained the film was based on his own experience of growing up in a family of cinema owners, where his father’s 78-year career marked the longest in the cinema business in Ireland. He described the film as a love letter to that unique cinema experience but also to audiences, which Dinard has aplenty.
With a selection of more than 30 films and two programmes of shorts, the festival continues until 7 October.
