Irish cinema a bright spot for country

If the past week will go down in Ireland’s history books as a low point in the nation’s modern history, in Rome, the future of Irish Cinema is showcasing the best of what this small but vibrant industry has to offer.

The fourth edition of Irish Film Festa presents Irish films, documentaries and animated movies to the wider European public as part of the Rome Film Festival.


“The quality of cinema in Ireland has developed and strengthened enormously over recent years,” says Irish Ambassador to Italy Pat Hennessy.

“This is a reflection, first of all, of the quality of the work which underpins the cinema: the writing, the wonderful books, the wonder stories that are there,” he told Vatican Radio. “But also we have developed a considerable amount of technical expertise in the cinematic area.”

Ambassador Hennessy says the Irish Film Festa, now in its fourth year is expanding into new areas, like workshops on film co-production.

He says these new areas have created a “real sense of dynamism.”

Listen to Ambassador Hennessy's full interview with Lydia O'Kane: