Sheamus Smith and guests at the Festival Club
Dublin Core
Title
Sheamus Smith and guests at the Festival Club
Subject
Cork Film Festival, Sheamus Smith, William (Bill) Harpur, RTÉ, Sheila Hampson, Irish Film Board, Film Censor, Festival Club
Description
This is a black and white photo of Sheamus Smith, William (Bill) Harpur and an unidentified woman who might be Sheila Hampson, the partner of Smith. A bespectacled Smith is standing on the far left, in a light-coloured suit, striped shirt and holding a cigarette and glass in his right hand slightly raised. He is standing next to Hampson, wearing a dark dress and a glass held in her clasped hands. On the far right Harpur, in a tweed jacket, smiles at the camera, his glass also raised.
Sheamus Smith had an illustrious career with RTÉ and beyond. He started out as a photojournalist for the now defunct Dublin paper Evening Press before moving to Canada to study film and television. He returned to Ireland in 1961 to join the newly formed Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) starting as a cameraman before becoming a producer and director with the station in 1963. The following decade he was appointed Managing Director of Ardmore Film Studios in 1975 and was instrumental in setting up the Irish Film Board. Most notably he was appointed Irish film censor and would go on to become Ireland's longest-serving film censor in the history of the State (1986-2002).
The RTÉ archives remind us that Smith was present at the assassination of Indira Ghandi in October 1984. She was on her way to meet with Sheamus Smith and Rory O'Farrell in her New Delhi garden when she was shot dead by her bodyguards in front of Smith. An interview that Ghandi had made with the Irish broadcaster, Marian Finucane, had been recorded three months earlier and was broadcast that October in a special edition of The Woman's Programme dedicated to Indira Ghandi.
Sheamus Smith had an illustrious career with RTÉ and beyond. He started out as a photojournalist for the now defunct Dublin paper Evening Press before moving to Canada to study film and television. He returned to Ireland in 1961 to join the newly formed Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) starting as a cameraman before becoming a producer and director with the station in 1963. The following decade he was appointed Managing Director of Ardmore Film Studios in 1975 and was instrumental in setting up the Irish Film Board. Most notably he was appointed Irish film censor and would go on to become Ireland's longest-serving film censor in the history of the State (1986-2002).
The RTÉ archives remind us that Smith was present at the assassination of Indira Ghandi in October 1984. She was on her way to meet with Sheamus Smith and Rory O'Farrell in her New Delhi garden when she was shot dead by her bodyguards in front of Smith. An interview that Ghandi had made with the Irish broadcaster, Marian Finucane, had been recorded three months earlier and was broadcast that October in a special edition of The Woman's Programme dedicated to Indira Ghandi.
Creator
University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, Donal Sheehan
Source
Cork Film Festival Collection
Publisher
University College Cork
Date
1960
Contributor
Donal Sheehan
Rights
©Donal Sheehan. All rights reserved. Please credit Cork International Film Festival & provide a link back to this site.
Format
Photo
TIFF
JPEG
TIFF
JPEG
Language
English, eng
Coverage
1960
Cork, Ireland
Cork, Ireland
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Photo
Physical Dimensions
254 x 201mm
Collection
Citation
University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, Donal Sheehan , “Sheamus Smith and guests at the Festival Club,” Cork International Film Festival Archive, accessed December 30, 2024, https://corkfilmfest.ucc.ie/items/show/207.