The new Lighthouse Cinema, located in Smithfield Square, Dublin 7, opens its doors to the public this Friday, 9th May. IFTN chatted to co-founder of the cinema, Maretta Dillon, to find out how the cinema made its return.
When the old Lighthouse Cinema, located on Abbey Street, closed its doors in 1996, its co-founders Neil Connolly and Maretta Dillon, were determined their beloved venue would make a comeback. Twelve years of planning, fundraising and campaigning later, their dream has become a reality with a brand new state-of-the-art Lighthouse Cinema set to open its doors to the public this Friday, 9th May.
The new venue, custom-built with investment from Fussano Properties Ltd., has re-located to Smithfield Square. The cinema contains four screens, a 58-seater café and wine bar and an ancillary space to be used for community and outreach projects. All four cinema screens are uniquely located in the building’s basement, which architect Colin McKay says “will allow patrons to walk over, under and around the forms, affording an alternative and dramatic cinema experience.”
“We were always hoping to find a new space to bring back the Lighthouse,” says Dillon. “But it wasn’t easy. Our old cinema had been great with its two screens but it wasn’t really sustainable into the long term. We were always looking for a space that would be able to take us into the future and I think that’s what we’ve got here with this 21st century building.”
The new Lighthouse Cinema was designed by DTA Architects, and is the result of c.€1.75 million public funding, investment from Fussano properties and grants from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Cultural Cinema Consortium – a joint initiative of the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board. “A lot of different elements had to come together,” says Dillon. “It took a while to assemble the jigsaw.” In addition to Connolly and Dillon other (non executive) members of the board are David Collins (Samson Films) and David Kavanagh (Irish Playwrights & Screenwriters Guild).
The new building has a total capacity of 614 seats, with Screen 1 holding 277, Screen 2 holding an audience of 153, Screen 3 fitting 116 and Screen Four accommodating 68.
“It was DTA’s architectural design that we liked and went with. Myself and Neil put our input into the technical side of it, but it’s very much DTA’s building and I think they can be very proud of it.”
An eclectic mix of international films will light up the new cinema’s screens on its opening night. American filmmaker John Sayle’s ‘Honeydripper’, starring Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon), will receive its Irish premiere. The film, set in 1950’s rural Alabama harvest follows the story of piano player Tyrone "Pine Top" Purvis, who is desperate to lure customers into his joint in an attempt to pay of his debts.
“We’re also opening with an Argentinean film called ‘XXY’, directed by Lucia Puenzo, which is about a person born with both male and female organs. It is very nicely done and a very sensitively made film about a difficult subject.”
Italian director Daniele Luchetti’s award-winning film ‘My Brother is an Only Child’, which tells the story of two brothers coming of age in a small Italian town in the '60s and '70s as well as John Carney’s Oscar-winning ‘Once’ complete the line-up. Dillon is keen to ensure the cinema programming reflects what audiences want.
“Instead of having tier programming, where films run for a pre-defined period of time, we’re going to have films run for as long as people want it to run, and because we’ve got four screens we can keep popular films on for quite a long time.”
The Lighthouse Cinema is not equipped to screen digital film as of yet, though Dillon hopes this will happen in the near future.
“We would like to screen digital cinema, we have left the port hole there for it but we have to find the funding for that. We just don’t have the money to put in digital cinema at the moment. Hopefully down the line, and sooner rather than later.”
So how does the new cinema compare to the building that screened its last movie in 1996?
“There isn’t really any comparison,” says Maretta. “The original was a building for the 1960’s this is a building for 2008 and it is very different. The only elements of the original cinema we’ve kept are the name and us! Things do move on and things change, distribution and exhibition changes all the time so you have to keep up with those changes. I think it will just be the same approach and respectful of audiences and respectful of films and that’s really the way we are going with it.”
“Regular visitors to the old venue will have to form a new relationship with this cinema and we have to form a new relationship with them. Dublin is very different to how it was in 1996, this is a completely different cinema and that’s very evident.”
One thing the Lighthouse Cinema has held on, however, is its art house roots. The cinema will favour the screening of international and Irish independent films rather than Hollywood blockbusters.
In the coming weeks, Dublin cinema goers can look forward to a selection of international films screening at the Lighthouse. Lebanese director Nadine Labaki’s ‘Caramel’ will open on May 16th, with DeAara L. Lewis’s film ‘Tricks’. With the Lighthouse keen to screen as much Irish cinema as possible, and the next Irish feature in the line-up is Declan Reck’s award-winning ‘Eden’, opening at the Lighthouse on the 30th May.
“I think people will be pleasantly surprised with the new cinema,” says Dillon. “It’s a surprise from the outside, the building is very different from the architecture around it, and it’s a surprise in terms of its programming.”
The Lighthouse Cinema box office opens for bookings on Friday May 9th. Tickets can also be booked online at www.lighthousecinema.ie
