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Súil
Nua
Paying special attention to Oscailt
and Lasair, Ruth
Lysaght looks at what Irish
language film has achieved to date, and where it might go
in the future. [Extract]
Over the past eight years there has been
a dramatic growth in indigenous filmmaking in Ireland, and
this rising tide has also lifted the currach of Irish language
ventures. The short film and digital initiatives, Oscailt
and Lasair, funded by TG4 in conjunction with an Bord Scannán
and FilmBase respectively, may be seen as a testing ground
for this new vision, or version, of Irish. In keeping with
the 'súil eile' [another perspective] approach of the
station, the award criteria emphasise showing another view
of life, through fictional narratives set in contemporary
Ireland.
Our pushmipullu relationship with the Irish language is reflected
in the arts, where until recently, Irish was regarded as suitable
only for peripheral themes. Yet, in the earlier days of RTÉ,
Irish language drama productions were amongst the more challenging
programmes on television. The advent of TG4 ushered in a shift
in topological as well as linguistic focus, and despite its
inadequate funding (22 million euros in 2001, to RTÉ's
152 million euros), has done much to release the language
from its báinín straitjacket, allowing for humour
and realism in place of traditional pieties. Lipservice (Oscailt
1998), an ironic look at the Irish oral exam, was a surprise
success. Winning the audience award in the Cork Festival,
it drew attention to the new image of Irish as a modern language.
The stated objectives of the Oscailt and Lasair schemes are
to give "a fresh look at Ireland", and to encourage
filmmaking in the Irish language. The Oscailt scheme, begun
in 1998, is the first sustained effort to create a filmic
version of Irish language identity. The films have been largely
successful, both at home and on the international festival
circuit. The first films of the Lasair scheme (begun in 2000)
have recently been screened, exploring aspects of identity
and communication, including the image of various Irelands
to varying degrees of plausibility. Language is central to
this project. Éireville depicts a nightmare
country trapped in the past tense, and Padraig agus Nadia
celebrates an understanding without words.
The distinctiveness of Irish film as cultural if not national
expression has been expressed by McLoone as an exploration
of "indigenous culture, in all its contradictions, with
an outsider's eye, [which] at the same time subjects this
outsider's perspective to the peculiar interrogation of the
local culture." The Third Eye of the short film looks
closely at particularity, at a detail, rather than simply
reflecting a general 'reality'. According to Willemen, "Third
Cinema is the expression of a new culture and of social change
[a challenge to] the way the world is conceptualised."
The short film form is perhaps the ideal cinematic format
by which to attempt such an examination. Whilst participating
in the wider film culture, it has more room (less financial
risk) to attempt to represent a minority than is afforded
by the formulaic approach of mainstream commercial cinema.
No other European minority language broadcasting service has
embarked on such ambitious film projects as Oscailt and Lasair.
In the words of Fran Keaveney, selector for Bord Scannán,
these short films aim "to have an impact rather than
to merely entertain." Certainly, there is a case to be
made for categorising the Oscailt shorts as a Third Eye on
Irish life, even if it is not yet fully focused.
The
full text of this article is printed in Film Ireland
90
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