Cinema of Ireland

Filmmaking in the Republic of Ireland
film in the Republic of Ireland

According to an article in Variety magazine spotlighting Irish cinema, a decade ago the Republic of Ireland had only two filmmakers anyone had heard of: Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridan. as of 2010, the Republic of Ireland can boast more than a dozen directors and writers with significant and growing international reputations. Ireland is now achieving critical mass of filmmaking talent to match the kind of influence, disproportionate to its small size, that it has always enjoyed in the fields of literature and theatre. Following in the footsteps of Sheridan and Jordan comes a generation that includes such directors as Lenny Abrahamson, Conor McPherson, John Crowley, Martin McDonagh, John Michael McDonagh, John Carney, Kirsten Sheridan, Lance Daly, Paddy Breathnach and Damien O'Donnell and writers such as Mark O'Rowe, Enda Walsh and Mark O'Halloran. Former Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen (2008–2010) said that “the film industry is the cornerstone of a smart and creative digital economy”. But as well as the concrete economic benefits that the Irish film industry brings in by way of cash investment from overseas and the associated VAT, PAYE and PRSI receipts, it has been noted that there are the soft benefits in terms of the development and projection of the Irish culture and the promotion of tourism. Some of the most successful Irish films include The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), Intermission (2003), Man About Dog (2004), Michael Collins (1996), Angela's Ashes (1999), The Commitments (1991), Once (2007), Notorious (2017) and The Quiet Girl (2022). Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie (2014) holds the record for the biggest gross on the opening day of an Irish film in Ireland while Notorious (2017) holds the record for highest grossing Irish documentary of all time. In the past many films were censored or banned, owing largely to the influence of the Catholic Church with films including The Great Dictator (1940), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Life of Brian (1979) being banned at various times, although virtually no cuts or bans have been issued in recent years, one as of August 2006. The Irish Film Classification Office policy is that of personal choice for the viewer, considering his job to examine and classify films rather than censor them.

The first fictional film shot in Ireland was Kalem Company's The Lad from Old Ireland (1910), which was also the first American film shot on location outside the United States. It was directed by Sidney Olcott, who returned the next year to shoot over a dozen films primarily in the small village of Beaufort, County Kerry. Olcott intended to start a permanent studio in Beaufort, but the outbreak of World War I prevented him from doing so. The Irish government was one of the first in Europe to see the potential benefit to the exchequer of having a competitive tax incentive for investment in film and television, making use of a revised and improved version of its Section 481 tax incentive in 2015 which gives production companies a tax credit rate of 32% when making certain films. Other countries have recognized the success of Ireland's incentive scheme and matched it or introduced a more competitive tax incentive. After a long lobbying process, significant improvements were introduced to the Section 481 relief for investment in film projects in 2009 to boost employment in the industry and help re establish Ireland as an attractive global location for film and television production. Ireland has a high rate of cinema admissions (the highest in Europe). There are several cinema chains operating in Ireland. Among them are ODEON Cinemas (formerly UCI/Storm Cinemas), Omniplex, IMC Cinemas (Both Omniplex and IMC are owned by the Ward Anderson group), Cineworld, Vue and Movies@Cinemas.

Ardmore Studios was the first Irish studio, opening in 1958 in Bray, County Wicklow.

Ireland has been home to several noteworthy producers of animated films in recent years. Sullivan Bluth Studios was opened in 1979 as Don Bluth Productions, with its primary location in Dublin, to produce animated films by director Don Bluth and producer Morris Sullivan. Some films produced at Sullivan Bluth's Irish studio include 1988's The Land Before Time, 1989's All Dogs Go to Heaven (co produced with UK based Goldcrest Films) and 1991's Rock a Doodle. Many of these films competed favourably with productions by Walt Disney Pictures at the time. However, following a number of box office flops in the early to mid 1990s, including 1994's Thumbelina and A Troll in Central Park and 1995's The Pebble and the Penguin, the studio soon declared bankruptcy and was closed in 1995. Today, Ireland has a number of animation studios that produce television and commercial animation, as well as feature films and co productions. Cartoon Saloon, founded in 1999 by Paul Young and Tomm Moore, is among the most prolific. It has produced the award winning TV series Skunk Fu! as well as a feature film, 2009's The Secret of Kells, animated primarily with Traditional paper and pencil hand drawn animation and detailing a fictitious account of the creation of the Book of Kells. The film was nominated at the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature. Since then, Cartoon Saloon had released a slate of critically acclaimed animated films such as Song of the Sea, released in 2014., The Breadwinner released in 2017 and Wolfwalkers in 2020.

The Film Act of 1980 set the foundation for an expanding Irish based film industry. It provided, among other things, very advantageous tax advantages for film productions and resident foreign creative individuals. A number of world renowned writers, including Len Deighton, Frederick Forsyth, and Richard Condon took advantage of the allowances, residing in Ireland for a number of years. The Film Act was the result of an initial collaboration between the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, and Lynn Garrison, an aerial film director who shared a semi detached house with Lynch. The Film Act became the basis for other national film acts throughout Europe and America.