thesundaytimes.

ie[news 3
A LLADIKC Iiisl film event in
Lollywood las witldiawn an
application foi co,ooo in
funding fiom two state bodies,
saying it is tiied of being
messed about".
1le oiganisei of tle annual
Oscai vilde awaids says yeais
of fiustiation witl tle Iiisl
Iilm Boaid IIB) and Cultuie
Iieland piompted it to witl-
diawa bid foi funding.
1le ceiemony, wlicl las
iunsince zooc, liglliglts Iiisl
talent in film. Iiona slaw,
1onatlanRlys myeis, Vanmoi-
iison and Biendan Cleeson aie
among tlose lonouied so fai,
wlile 1om Ciuise ieceived a
special awaid. 1le event is
oiganised by tle Ds-Iieland
Alliance.
1iina Vaigo, tle alliance's
piesident, las blamed tle
unnecessaiy level of fiustiation
tlat accompanies tlis eveiy
yeai" foi last montl's witl-
diawal of a fundingapplication.
I don't lnow if it's malevo-
lence, incompetence oi acombi-
nation of botl, but we aie
messed about eacl yeai," sle
claimed. 1ley don't meet tleii
own deadlines and, wlen tley
do agiee to fund, tley must be
clased foi payment and con-
stantly want to ienegotiate
wlatevei was agieed."
Kext yeai's event will be
losted tliee niglts befoie tle
Oscais by 11 Abiams, a Lolly-
wood pioducei
wlose ciedi t s
include Lost, stai
1iel and supei s.
1immy Deenilan,
tle aits ministei
and a f ii end of
Vaigo's, still lopes
to be at tle zoz
event and blamed
tle iow on peison-
ality diffeiences".
Lelintedtle gov-
einment may still
give financial sup-
poit to tle event.
ve'll see if we can
do sometling about
tle funding gap a bit
closei to tle time," tle
ministei said.
Vaigo says lei iela-
t i o n s l i p wi t l
Deenilan iemains
extiemely stiong" but
added sle'd lad enougl
of laving to convince civil
seivants of tle value of some-
tling eveiyone but tlemseems
to undeistand".
sle is fiustiated at wlat sle
iegaids as tle state bodies'
failuie to sell Iieland to tle
ligl-poweied Lollywood types
wlo tuin up foi tle invitation-
only paity, including tle film
mogul Laivey veinstein, tle
foimei Disney claiiman Dicl
Cool, tle simpsons pioducei
1ames L Biools, and actois Al
Pacino and 1odie Iostei.
ve piovide tle IIB witl
oppoitunities to attiact majoi
filmpioductions to Iieland and
it eitlei fails to do so oi it does
it inadequately," Vaigo said.
You can be suie tlat otlei
countiies tale a diffeient
attitude towaids piospective
business oppoitunities."
sle made a complaint about
tle absence of senioi IIBexecu-
tives at tlis yeai's event to Kiall
ODonncl, tle assistant secie-
taiy geneial in tle Depaitment
of 1ouiism, Cultuie and spoit.
Le told me I slouldn't be so
'snippy'. Civen tle state of tle
Iiisl economy, le slould be
snippy about tle failuie to
male tle most of tlis event,"
sle said.
Vaigo, wlose motlei's
family is fiom Donegal, is a
vaslington insidei steeped in
Iiisl-Ameiican politics. 1le
late senatoi 1ed Kennedy was
lei long-time mentoi. sle said
tle Oscai vilde awaids lave
been piaised by invitees wlo
piofit fiom its netwoiling
oppoitunities. 1lese include
tle Belfast musician Dule spe-
cial, wlo peifoimed at tle
event in zoos and said tle
wlole diiection of my caieei
clanged tlat niglt" as it led to
a commission to wiite tle
music foi a vest Lnd pioduc-
tion of motlei Couiage.
Vaigo believes Koitlein Iie-
land las made bettei use of tle
event, pointing to tle szom
c+m) pioduction of tle
Da nny mc Bi i de
comedy Youi Liglness,
s t ai i i ng Kat al i e
Poitman, wlicl was
filmed in tle piovince by
Dniveisal Pictuies aftei
beingpitcledbyPetei Rob-
inson, tle fiist ministei,
and Ldwin Poots, tle
foimei cultuie ministei, at
meetings sle lad set up.
Dami an Iaiiel l of
Caboom, an Iiisl animation
studio, said Iiisl people
needed to maximise net-
woiling oppoitunities. 1le
idea tlat you can get in fiont of
11 Abiams oi 1ames L Biools is
just invaluable," le said. But
tleie is a cultuie clasl wlen it
comes to following up. Ameii-
cans expect you to sell youiself
as laid as tley do, but Iiisl
people aie biouglt upto believe
tlat's slowing off."
Ros Lubbaid, tle Iiisl
casting diiectoi, las called tle
event tle most talled-about
paityinLAduiing Oscai weel".
I'd late to see tlis go," said
Lubbaid. Vaigo says sle is now
seeling otlei funding but I
won't asl Ameiicans to alone
suppoit sometling tlat is of
mucl gieatei value to Iieland".
1le IIB said it las piovided
substantial diiect funding to
tle Ds-Iieland Alliance in sup-
poit of its Oscai vilde event
eveiy yeai since its inception
and confiimed tle oiganiseis
lad witldiawn an application
foi funding foi next yeai.
1le fact tlat tle Ds-Iieland
Alliance las decided to pioceed
witl tle event witlout tle
financial suppoit of Cultuie Iie-
land and tle IIB is veiy mucl
welcomed, paiticulaily given
tle geneial economic climate
impacting on all aits bodies in
Iieland," tle boaid said. It
ieflects tle value tlis event iep-
iesents to its piomoteis as well
as Iiisl film-maleis and we
wisl it eveiy success."
0RCANlSlR 0l AllSTlRS'
AwARL PART l0SlS
PATllNCl wlTH ARTS
B0LllS 0\lR l\lNT CASH
LOO-LAL! Al Pacino's docu-
mentaiy about lis obsession"
witl Oscai vilde will piemieie
at tle Venice Iilm Iestival
toniglt. 1le movie follows
Pacino as le diiects and stais in
a stage pioduction of salom,
vilde's one-act tiagedy, and
visits cities wleie tle wiitei
lived.
Pacino, wlo staiied in tle
Codfatlei tiilogy, scaiface and
scent of a voman, visited
Dublin as pait of lis ieseaicl.
1le documentaiy slows tle
movie stai talling to tle statue
of vilde in meiiion squaie and
tlanling lim foi wlat le las
given tle woild.
vilde salom toolfoui yeais
to male, including s montls
of filming, and is similai in
style to Looling foi Riclaid,
Pacino's ssc documentaiy
about tle woil of villiam
slalespeaie and playing tle
title claiactei in Riclaid III.
Pacino diiected and acted in
a stage pioduction of salom in
Los Angeles in zooc. It was tle
tliid time tlat le lad played
tle male lead of Leiod, and le
decided to male a documen-
taiy about tle piocess. In
vilde salom, Pacino also
tiavels to London and Paiis.
vlile in London le visited tle
ioom wleie vilde spent sev-
eial days aftei being ieleased
fiom piison aftei lis convic-
tion foi gioss indecency.
I was obsessed witl tlis
stoiy, witl tle play, witl
immeising myself in discov-
eiing wlo Oscai vilde was and
wlat tlis play said about lim,"
said Pacino, . so I decided to
film eveiytling tlat was going
on in my life as it ielated to tle
play, tle tleatie and tiying to
male tle play a movie. I went a
little mad duiing tle yeai and a
lalf of doing tlis. In documen-
taiy you'ie opeiating by tle
seat of youi pants. so I did tlat.
It's going to come off lile
I'm lind of stiange, but in
salom audiences will get to
see as mucl of myself as I am
willing to slow. I tiy to be as
lonest as I can. I ieveal a little
in Looling foi Riclaid but not
neaily as mucl as I do in vilde
salom. Lven tlougl tle play
and tle documentaiy aie fin-
isled, Oscai vilde continues to
fascinate me. It's not a closed
bool. Le is still in my mind."
Pacino said le loped people
would iead moie of vilde's
woil and appieciate tle
aitistic jouiney I slaied, tle
stiuggle to undeistand a com-
plex man and lis woil".
1lis is not a naiiative fea-
tuie oi even a tiaditional docu-
mentaiy. It's expeiimental.
Lile tle actois in tle play, you
lave to tiust me, tiust tle
piocess and come along on my
jouiney," tle actoi said in a
statement.
vilde salom las secuied
distiibution in seveial Luio-
pean countiies, but not in Iie-
land. 1le pioduceis expect to
confiim deals foi otlei coun-
tiies, including Ameiica, at tle
Venice festival. Pacino, wlo
won tle best actoi Academy
Awaid foi scent of a voman in
ss+, will ieceive a film-malei
awaid at tle event.
Pacino fiist played Leiod in
ss+, iepiising tle iole o yeais
latei witl maiisa 1omei
playing tle title claiactei.
The awards have drawn
stars such as actress
NataIie 0ormer, Ieft, and
director Anthony Byrne;
beIow, Vargo with
agent HyIda 0ueaIIy
and Kate WinsIet;
above, Portman
Pacino hopcs audicnccs wiII go
WiIdc lor his Iatcst obscssion
''
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Patricia anaher
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Eithne 5hertaII
Pacino, inset, features the statue of WiIde in his fiIm