Phoenix Cinema 

History

Cillian Murphy with friends celebrating the Dingle International Film Festival which ran from 2009 through to 2019.


Many's the day we drove to Tralee with Michael Francie in time to meet the evening train from Dublin. Films came in heavy metal cases with a fold-down handle on top. Michael would carry the 4-spool boxes down the platform and out into the carpark. We'd lug the skinnier 2-spool boxes and load them into the back of the van.


2-spooll boxes having just arrived from Tralee had to be brought up a few flights of stairs to the projector room where Peadar Quinn would splice the spools together with cello tape and wind them on to these huge wheels.


For twelve days during June and July 1972, crowds flocked to see the Dingle Peninsula of Ryan’s Daughter – many hoping to catch a glimpse of their own 15 seconds of fame as extras.


The Phoenix Cinema is one of the last few independent cinemas in Ireland. For generations it streamed film over the heads in a beam of light from the projection booth to screen, where the magic of film would come alive.


And it’s not just a cinema. In February 1963 at a “twist” competition in the cinema, Dingle brother and sister dancing duo, Patrick and Mary Ellen Cronesberry won first prize for their exuberant exhibition of the new dance craze of the day.



In 2010 Cillian Murphy introduced his new film 'Perrier's Bounty', and Oscar-nominated director Stephen Frears received the year's Gregory Peck Award for excellence in the art of film.



The Dingle International Film Festival (DIFF: Irish Gaelic: Féile Scannán Idirnáisiúnta an Daingin) was a film festival held annually in March that took place between 2007 and 2019. Established in 2007 by founder Maurice Galway, an experimental filmmaker. Notable guests have included inventor Garrett Brown, Gabriel Bryne, Laura Dern, Ned Dowd, Aidan Gillen, sound engineer Tom Johnson, Sarah Miles, Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Barbara Kopple, Maureen O Hara, Sir Alan Parker, Jack Reynor, Saoirse Ronan, Jim Sheridan and Scott Wilson.


The Dingle Whiskey International Film Festival will return in 2022 aiming to combine screenings and related events with hotly contested competitions and is aimed not just at those who are working in the industry or are serious aficionados but at a general audience also.

Over its short life the festival has built a reputation for bringing together diverse and creative minds to discuss and experience film. Films range from old to new, from documentary to feature film. As well as the many screenings there are workshops, masterclasses, and a special programme for children.

Dingle has a long association with the Peck family, and the Annual Gregory Peck Award recognises Excellence in the Art of Film.



History credit: John O Connor

Photo Credit: Mossy Donegan

Phoenix Cinema 

IONAD PHOENIX CLG   
Údarás na Gaeltachta - Gteic 
Páirc Ghnó an Daingin, 
Baile an Mhuilinn, 
Daingean Uí Chúis, 
Co. Chiarraí, V92 TX48
Registered company 714486 

 Tor +353 87 222 0853

 thephoenixdingle@gmail.com 

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