Rural moviegoers have been asked to give their accounts of going out to the pictures as part of a project aimed at documenting the role the cinema has played in small town life in Co Cork.
The project, titled ‘Movie Going Memories’, will record interviews with filmgoers for a web-based archive and a short documentary that will be premiered at the Schull Short Film Festival in May 2018.
While Cork City’s storied history of cinemas, such as the Imperial, Lido, Savoy, and the Pavilion, is well documented, this project aims to document theatres in towns across the county of Cork.
“We’re particularly interested in hearing from those that have memories of going to films in rural areas of Cork,” said the organisers of the project.
“We want to explore the role of the cinema in small town rural life, its cultural and personal importance, and how that might have changed over the years.”
Potential participants will be invited to UCC’s campus to be interviewed for the project. The project has received funding from Cork County Council, through the Creative Ireland initiative, and from UCC.
Those interested in getting involved are asked to contact team leaders Gwenda Young, co-head of Film and Screen Media at UCC, and Dan O’Connell, practitioner in residence in Film and Screen Media at UCC.
They can be reached on moviememories.cork @gmail.com, and more details are available on ucc.ie/en/filmstudies.