Irish Film Theatre

The Irish Film Theatre (IFT) was a specialist cinema in Dublin, Ireland, established in 1977 by the Arts Council of Ireland through the creation of Irish Film Theatre Limited. Its purpose was to promote the art of cinema and to make films available that were often absent from mainstream Irish commercial cinemas. The theatre occupied premises at St. Stephen's Green House on Earlsfort Terrace, beside St. Stephen's Green. The site had previously been used by the International Cinema and also accommodated the headquarters of the Irish Sugar Company at the time. The IFT operated at a period when cinema programming in Ireland was largely concentrated on commercially successful English-language films from the United States and the United Kingdom. Against that background, it developed a more international and cinephile-oriented programme. Its screenings included Irish films, independent productions, foreign-language works, established classics, and new releases from Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. It also showed British and American films that commercial exhibitors had overlooked, including works associated with directors such as Derek Jarman, Robert Altman, and Joan Micklin Silver. The theatre's significance was not limited to the range of its programming. It used a film-club model in which viewers paid a membership fee and members could bring guests. This structure enabled the IFT to show films privately rather than as general public exhibitions. Under Ireland's film-censorship framework at the time, films shown through private clubs did not face the same certification requirement as films presented to the general public. The arrangement allowed the theatre to screen works in complete form that might otherwise have been banned or subjected to substantial cuts by the Irish censor. Examples cited in accounts of the theatre include Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò, Nagisa Ōshima's In the Realm of the Senses, and Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris. The IFT became an important Dublin outlet for challenging cinema, broadened local access to international film culture, and provided a platform for material that had limited prospects in the mainstream exhibition sector. Its operation was nevertheless financially difficult. The Arts Council closed the financially ailing theatre at the end of May 1984. Its final screening was Forbidden Relations, a Hungarian drama. The IFT succeeded the Irish Film Society in the presentation of art cinema, and its cultural role was later continued in Dublin by institutions and venues including the Irish Film Centre, which opened in Temple Bar in 1992, as well as the Screen Cinema and the Light House Cinema. The former theatre premises eventually acquired a new identity. In 1999, the site reopened as The Sugar Club, a multi-purpose arts, entertainment, and bar venue, with its entrance relocated to Leeson Street. The Sugar Club is a later use of the building rather than a continuation of the Irish Film Theatre brand.

The Irish Film Theatre was established in Dublin in 1977 by the Arts Council of Ireland as a company intended to promote cinema as an art form. It took over the premises formerly used by the International Cinema at St. Stephen's Green House on Earlsfort Terrace, beside St. Stephen's Green. The building also housed the Irish Sugar Company's headquarters during the theatre's period of operation. The IFT emerged from a tradition of organised film appreciation associated with the Irish Film Society. Its creation responded to the restricted range of films commonly available through Ireland's commercial cinemas. Mainstream programming was heavily concentrated on commercially viable English-language productions, particularly from Britain and the United States. The IFT offered an alternative by presenting Irish films, independent productions, foreign-language cinema, repertory titles, and new work from a wide range of countries and regions. Its programme connected Dublin audiences with films from Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin America, while also giving exposure to British and American films that had been neglected by commercial exhibitors. The theatre presented established classics alongside recent releases, making its programme both retrospective and contemporary. Examples of films shown included Derek Jarman's Sebastiane, Robert Altman's Nashville, and Joan Micklin Silver's Between the Lines. The IFT also developed a distinctive response to Ireland's film-censorship system. Rather than operating solely as a general-public cinema, it functioned as a private film club. Members paid to join and were permitted to bring guests. Under the censorship legislation then in force, films screened in private clubs were not subject to the same submission and certification process required for general-public exhibition. This arrangement allowed the IFT to show some films in their entirety when they might otherwise have been banned or cut by the Irish censor. The repertory included controversial works such as Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò, Nagisa Ōshima's In the Realm of the Senses, and Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris. The theatre's cultural importance was therefore twofold. It expanded the geographical and stylistic range of cinema available in Dublin, and it created an exhibition channel for films affected by commercial indifference or censorship. At the same time, the operation was financially precarious. The Arts Council closed the Irish Film Theatre at the end of May 1984. Its last film was Forbidden Relations, a Hungarian drama concerning incest. The IFT's role was later taken up by other Dublin venues. The Irish Film Centre opened in Temple Bar in 1992, followed by continuing art-cinema activity at venues such as the Screen Cinema on Hawkins Street and the Light House Cinema in Smithfield. The original Earlsfort Terrace premises eventually reopened in 1999 under a different identity as The Sugar Club, a multi-purpose arts and entertainment venue and bar, with access moved to Leeson Street.

• 1999

  Premises reopen as The Sugar Club

  [1]Irish Film Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The former IFT building reopened as The Sugar Club, a multi-purpose arts, entertainment, and bar venue.

• 1992

  Irish Film Centre opens in Temple Bar

  [1]Irish Film Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  A later Dublin institution, the Irish Film Centre, assumed part of the art-cinema exhibition role previously associated with the IFT.

• 1984

  Cinema closes

  [1]Irish Film Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The Arts Council closed the financially troubled Irish Film Theatre at the end of May. Forbidden Relations was the final film screened.

• 1977

  Irish Film Theatre established

  [1]Irish Film Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The Arts Council of Ireland established Irish Film Theatre Limited and opened the specialist cinema in premises formerly associated with the International Cinema at St. Stephen's Green House in Dublin.

• 1977

  Private film-club exhibition model developed

  [1]Irish Film Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The theatre operated through membership, allowing it to present films privately and to provide access to works that could have faced bans or cuts in general-public exhibition.

A non-mainstream, internationally oriented art cinema and film club serving Dublin audiences during a period of limited commercial access to independent, foreign-language, and censorship-sensitive films.

• Cinema exhibition · 1977

  Art-film screenings

  The IFT's core offering was curated exhibition of cinema treated as an art form rather than solely as commercial entertainment. Programmes combined established classics with new releases and works from independent filmmakers.

• Cinema exhibition · 1977

  International and foreign-language cinema

  The theatre presented films from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas, widening the range of national cinemas available to Dublin audiences beyond the dominant British and American mainstream.

• Film-club service · 1977

  Private film-club screenings

  Membership-based screenings allowed members to attend and bring guests. The private-club structure enabled exhibition of films that might otherwise have been censored, banned, or materially cut in a public cinema setting.

• 1984

  Close the financially troubled cinemaOther

  Background

  The theatre was financially ailing after operating as a specialist art-film venue for seven years.

  Action taken

  The Arts Council of Ireland closed the Irish Film Theatre at the end of May 1984.

  Aftermath

  Its art-cinema role was later continued by other Dublin venues, including the Irish Film Centre, the Screen Cinema, and the Light House Cinema.

  Source

• 1977

  Adopt a private film-club operating modelStrategy

  Background

  Irish censorship rules required films intended for general public exhibition to receive certification, while private-club screenings were treated differently.

  Action taken

  The IFT used membership-based exhibition to present challenging films in complete form and to broaden access to material unavailable through mainstream cinemas.

  Aftermath

  The model became a defining feature of the theatre and enabled screenings of works that could have been banned or cut in ordinary public exhibition.

  Source

1. 1Irish Film Theatreen.wikipedia.org