Irish film org celebrates 10th anni

The event will run from April 5-17

By ARCHIE THOMAS

LONDON -- The Irish Film Board is to launch a two-week showcase of 76 Irish features, including "Bloody Sunday" and "The Magdalene Sisters," to celebrate its tenth anniversary, organisers said Wednesday.

The event will run from April 5-17 at the Film Centre in Dublin and the state of the art Cinemobile mobile cinema which will dock at Dublin Castle.

The showcase aims to pick up where the New Irish Cinema section of the Dublin Film Fest left off. At the Dublin fest, new work by Irish directors featured on seven of the eight nights.

"It has always been the board's aim to encourage the creation of many different forms of Irish cinema," said CEO Rod Stoneman. "This 10th anniversary gives Irish audiences the chance to see the diverse range of feature films made over the past decade."

The Irish are the most frequent moviegoers in the European Union, according to recent figures released by EU statistics org Eurostat.

On average, the Irish went to the cinema 4.2 times in 2001, outstripping the nearest competitor, Spain, whose citizens attend 3.6 movies a year. Propping up the list are the Finns and Greeks who go to 1.3 pics a year.