To mark thirty years since the establishment of the Irish Film Board in July 1981, its first Chief Executive Michael Algar has donated a collection of documents which will now be archived in digitised form. Documentation in the collection include personal correspondence regarding his own appointment and the termination of his contract, as well as proposals regarding Board Reviews, production financing and Ardmore Studios. The documents donated include copies of the minutes of all ninety-one Board meetings as well as memoranda, speeches, reports and discussion documents.
Algar said, “I’m pleased that these important documents in the development of Ireland’s film industry will now be preserved and available for research in the coming years. The first Film Board laid the groundwork for the healthy film industry we have today. Over the six years of that Board, ten feature films were part-financed. Currently, more than that number is produced each year now. With very limited resources and a staff of three, the Board assisted a wide variety of film activity, from production and development finance to training and marketing.”
There collection also includes bound scripts the first three fiction films to be financed by the Board; ‘Angel’, ‘The Outcasts’ and ‘Attracta’; and nineteen volumes of parliamentary debates, covering the enactment of legislation to establish the Film Board in 1980 and debates regarding its closure in 1987.
The historical documentation includes memoranda produced during the passage of legislation to establish the Board and 1968 Huston Committee report, Louis Marcus’ 1967 articles regarding the film industry and the original Film Industry Bill 1970. The Irish Film Archive is open Monday to Friday 10-5pm by appointment. To make an appointment email rgrant@irishfilm.ie
