Colman, his wife and their son live on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. However the place is nothing but barren rocks, without any vegetation or soil. In order to grow a few potatoes, you must first create the field. The only other way to survive is shark fishing, but during the hunt, the boat is shattered on the rocks.

Michael Lynch works free-lance, even though he receives unemployment benefits: holding up banks, stealing paintings, he’s very adept at receiving and trafficking stolen goods. A hero who steals from the rich and lives among the poor, the bane of the Irish Police, Michael is also a bigamist (married to two sisters). The IRA would like to recruit him, but Michael is a loner… To what lengths is he prepared to go?

Easter 1916. The General Post Office in Dublin is occupied by Republican rebels besieged by the British Army which manages to force them out. Leading the rebels who are fighting for the independence of Ireland are the major figures of the Irish nationalism of the time, including Eamon De Valera and Michael Collins who get arrested. Once out of prison they carry on their fight : Michael Collins organises the military operations, Eamon de Valera is in charge of political action. Their efforts are successful and lead to the negotiation of a treaty of autonomy with the British which Collins will sign in London in 1921. But de Valera and his followers treat Michael Collins as a traitor upon his return to Ireland, as the treaty confirms the partition of Ireland, a partition still in effect today.

Brendan is a young schoolteacher, a dreamer and unmotivated about his job. His only hobby in life is movies until the day when he meets Trudy, a lively and energetic young woman…

When Ben Willis, an art student, is dumped by his girlfriend Suzy, he becomes insomniac. Since he can’t sleep, he decides to work the late night shift in his local supermarket, where he meets a lot of fascinating people who each cultivate in their own way the art of dealing with the boredom of long working hours. Ben’s skill consists in imagining that he can stop time, allowing him to appreciate the beauty of the frozen world and its inhabitants. He is particularly drawn to the charming Sharon, the check-out girl that might just hold the key to his insomnia problems.

In the north of England, at the beginning of the 1980s, Akthar, Crowther, Dakin, Lockwood, Posner, Rudge, Scripps et Timms are pupils at Cutler’s Grammar School. Because of their excellent results in history, the headmaster of the school showers them with attention and is quite intent on having them accepted at Cambridge or Oxford.
To double their chances of success, he hires Irwin, a special tutor whose mission is to prepare these exceptional students for the Oxbridge entrance exam.

When Danny Flynn was 18 years old, a promising career as a boxer in Belfast lay before him. But after 14 years in prison because of his IRA activities, he decides to become a hero of conciliation instead, trying to regain the love of the woman he left behind and to stop the spiral of violence in a world of resentment and misunderstanding.

In the 1990s, the Dublin drug lords are engaged in a merciless war for the control of the city. Their arch enemy is Veronica Guerin, a journalist who threatens to expose the names of some of the biggest dealers.
A woman of integrity and determined to go all the way, Veronica is torn between her duty and fear for her son. Her actions have put her family in the line of fire. Idolized by the Irish people, she becomes a national heroine; her legend continues to grow …until she is tragically gunned down in 1996.

Thirty years old and single, Beatrix Potter lives in London with her social-climbing parents, who are exasperated that she has turned down any number of eligible young men. Her only real friends are the animals which since childhood she has lovingly drawn and made up stories about. She finally succeeds in selling a book of the stories, and it becomes Norman Warne's first project. He quickly falls in love with both the book and Beatrix and together they carefully arrange publication. This proves the first of many successes, offering her the possibility of escaping from both her parents' way of life and London.

This film describes the barbaric treatment inflicted on wayward girls, some of whom were unwed mothers, others considered as sluts and sinners, in Catholic Magdalene Asylums, convents which were more like prisons, created in the 19th Century in Ireland and run by the Sisters of Mercy.


Lion's gold  Mostra of Venise 2002.

In 1935, after the death of their youngest child, the poverty-stricken McCourt family chooses an unusual solution: they leave America to return to Ireland. Frank, the eldest son of the courageous Angela and the unemployable and alcoholic Malachy, discovers a land of people on the dole, dying of hunger and humidity...

A sympathetic look at Republicans in early 20th century Ireland, and two brothers who are torn apart by anti-British rebellion.


Note: Some scenes are to be considered of a violent nature.

Réalisation : Claudio PAZIENZA

Production : ARTE France, Panic Productions, Wajnbrosse Productions
Année de production : 2004

Durée : 26 mn V.O.S.T.

Kaleidoscope follows in the footsteps of Robert Flaherty, the father of the documentary and director ot The Man from Aran in 1934.
 

Réalisation : Roxanne FRIAS

Production : ARTE France, Point du Jour

Année de production : 2006

Durée : 26 mn
V.O.S.T.

From Siberia to Cape Horn, from Los Angeles to Dubai, there is no place on earth where television does not exist. The most widely practised cultural activity in the world, television and its programmes are often the best reflection of national mentalities and preoccupations.

"You can judge the man by what he watches." Using playful zapping, this program, full of surprises, presents a panorama of Irish television.

Réalisation : Nick Quinn

Production : ARTE France, Gloria Films, Campbell Ryan Productions, TV3 Ireland, Agat Films, Morgane Productions

Année de production : 2002

Durée : 52 mn
V.O.S.T.

What do young people in Dublin dream of ; whatare their life-styles? To find out, Nick Quinn collected various confessions from his fellow Dubliners. Their lives and their desires vary, but they all agree on one point : the decline of the hold that religion has over people and the progressive opening of their minds.

Réalisation : Northside Folklore Project

Production : Frameworks Films

Année de production : 2000

Durée : 8 mn
V.O.S.T.

An avid bingo player explains her passion for the game, the superstitions, the camaraderie and best of all the winning. She talks us through an evening at the bingo hall and gives a wonderful insight into the old saying "What has 90 balls and drives women crazy? A Bingo Machine".

Réalisation : Northside Folklore Project

Production : Frameworks Films

Année de production : 2000

Durée : 31 mn
V.O.S.T.

The Sunbeam Wolsey Factory was one of the biggest employers on the northside of Cork city in Ireland throughout much of the 20^th century. Although it finally closed its doors in the 1990s, its imposing structure was a permanent reminder of friendships formed, romances kindled and the long hours of hard work. In this film, former employees recount stories of working in the Sunbeam, memories stirred by the dramatic fire, which swept through the complex in September 2003, signalling the final end of the Sunbeam.

Réalisation : Denis Johnston

Scénario : Mary Manning, Frank O'Connor

Interprétation : Barry Fitzgerald , Cyril Cusack , Frank O'Connor

Année de production : 1935

Durée : 49 mn
Film Muet

In 1921, during the War of Independence, The IRA capture and destroy a Royal Irish Constabulary barracks, and take two prisoners. Two men are assigned to guard the prisoners at a remote location. They are on easy terms very quickly. The two Englishmen are being held to be used as a reprisal if two IRA prisoners in Mountjoy Jail are executed. When the IRA men are executed, the two guards are forced to kill their prisoners and friends against their will.

During the War of Independence and the Anglo-Irish Truce of 1920-21, the love affair of Denis O'Hara and his fiancee, Moira Barry, is interwoven with incidents from the war shown through actuality material. While on a mission to relay a captured communique, Denis is shot and wounded, and while others believe him dead, he is actually in a hospital. A nurse smuggles out a message leading to Denis' arrest and imprisonment, from where he escapes. With the advent of the truce, he can safely return home, where he is happily reunited with his sweetheart and invalid mother.