Dermot Breen on stage
Dublin Core
Title
Dermot Breen on stage
Subject
Cork Film Festival, Dermot Breen, Gus Healy, Ciaran Carty, Censor
Description
This is an atmospheric black and white photo of the festival director Dermot Breen speaking to a seated audience. We only see his back but recognise him from his distinctive side profile. A single spotlight throws its glare down towards the stage and flecks of dust can be made out in the light of the camera. Guests are seated behind Breen along the width of the large stage. We can make out the low profile of the Fianna Fail politician, and sometimes Lord Mayor of Cork, Gus Healy sitting at its centre.
Dermot Breen (1924-1978) was the founder of the film festival when he proposed it under the umbrella of the Cork Tóstal Council where he was secretary. Under his auspices, the Cork Film Festival opened at the Savoy Cinema in 1956 with a showing of A Town Like Alice (Jack Lee, 1956) – itself a controversial film at the time because of being withdrawn from Cannes lest it give offence to Japan due to the nature of its World War II content. Breen was born in Waterford and educated in Cork at the Presentation Brothers College on the Mardyke. He was primarily a salesman until he became the manager (1956-1964) of the Palace Cinema in Cork. His greatest achievement however was the establishment of the Cork International Film Festival in 1956 which he ran until his untimely death in 1978. It was one of the first film festivals to earn the recognition of the International Federation of Film Producers Association in Washington in 1959 allowing it to become an annual event. Breen travelled the world attending festivals receiving honours from the 1964 Berlin Film Festival in recognition of his filmic work. He was a keen advocate of short and documentary films whose legacy can be still seen today in the Cork Film Festival ethos.
Interestingly Breen also worked as the State film censor from 1972 following a stint on the film censorship board from 1970. The film commentator, Ciaran Carty, saw the appointment of Breen as a time of liberalisation for film in Ireland. Carty notes that Breen seemingly tried to appease the Catholic right with a reactionary stance whilst his actual decision-making contained fewer cuts than any other censor before. (Carty, Confessions of a Sewer Rat: A Personal History of Censorship and the Irish Cinema, New Island Books, 1995, 101.) On his death Breen was replaced by Frank Hall, of Hall’s Pictorial Weekly, who would serve as Irish film censor for the coming decade.
Dermot Breen (1924-1978) was the founder of the film festival when he proposed it under the umbrella of the Cork Tóstal Council where he was secretary. Under his auspices, the Cork Film Festival opened at the Savoy Cinema in 1956 with a showing of A Town Like Alice (Jack Lee, 1956) – itself a controversial film at the time because of being withdrawn from Cannes lest it give offence to Japan due to the nature of its World War II content. Breen was born in Waterford and educated in Cork at the Presentation Brothers College on the Mardyke. He was primarily a salesman until he became the manager (1956-1964) of the Palace Cinema in Cork. His greatest achievement however was the establishment of the Cork International Film Festival in 1956 which he ran until his untimely death in 1978. It was one of the first film festivals to earn the recognition of the International Federation of Film Producers Association in Washington in 1959 allowing it to become an annual event. Breen travelled the world attending festivals receiving honours from the 1964 Berlin Film Festival in recognition of his filmic work. He was a keen advocate of short and documentary films whose legacy can be still seen today in the Cork Film Festival ethos.
Interestingly Breen also worked as the State film censor from 1972 following a stint on the film censorship board from 1970. The film commentator, Ciaran Carty, saw the appointment of Breen as a time of liberalisation for film in Ireland. Carty notes that Breen seemingly tried to appease the Catholic right with a reactionary stance whilst his actual decision-making contained fewer cuts than any other censor before. (Carty, Confessions of a Sewer Rat: A Personal History of Censorship and the Irish Cinema, New Island Books, 1995, 101.) On his death Breen was replaced by Frank Hall, of Hall’s Pictorial Weekly, who would serve as Irish film censor for the coming decade.
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
255 x 202mm
Collection
Citation
University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, Donal Sheehan , “Dermot Breen on stage,” Cork International Film Festival Archive, accessed December 22, 2024, https://corkfilmfest.ucc.ie/items/show/218.