JOHN FORD Ireland is an initiative of the Irish Film & Television Academy in Ireland and the John Ford Estate in the United States, to celebrate the work and legacy of the legendary filmmaker - John Ford. During his career John Ford directed 137 films and made over 85 other projects including many documentaries and short films. He won a record six Oscars, and with credits that include the classic feature films The Searchers, The Quiet Man, The Grapes of Wrath, The Iron Horse and Fort Apache amongst others, John Ford is widely regarded as one of cinema’s most influential writers/directors and producers. As an Irish-American, Ford is a true representative of the Irish diaspora and can be considered one of Ireland’s greatest emigrant sons. Throughout his career the director frequently returned to the home of his parents for inspiration and it was in Ireland that Ford produced perhaps his most personal film, The Quiet Man, in 1952.
60 years on from that iconic film, the Irish Film & Television Academy, through JOHN FORD Ireland, is laying the foundation to honour the director’s great work. The John Ford Ireland Film Symposium is a four day celebration of film, examining and learning from John Ford’s work, his many approaches, themes and influences. Included in the symposium lineup is the Ford Masterclass and the Keynote ‘John Ford Lecture’; Public Interviews and Panel Discussions; over a dozen Public Screenings, including an outdoor screening of The Searchers, the 1956 classic John Wayne western; a Gala Screening with Orchestral Accompaniment at Dublin’s National Concert Hall, the John Ford Exhibition, with rare memorabilia from Ford’s family collection; and the exciting launch of the Ford Film Trail. The Film Symposium will also explore the many vibrant links between Ford and the first John Ford Award recipient, Clint Eastwood, through a retrospective and series of discussion events. Film fans and Ford experts from around the globe have gathered at the Film Symposium in recent years including, Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show), Bertrand Tavernier (Round Midnight), Stephen Frears (Philomena), John Crowley (Brooklyn; Boy A); Ben Wheatley; JulIan Jarrold, Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In America) and John Boorman (Excalibur, Deliverance); and Dan Ford, Grandson of John Ford; Oscar Winning editor Joel Cox (Mystic River) and Cinemtogrpaher Sean Bobbit (Shame, A Place Beyond the Pines) along with Patrick and Marisa Wayne. For further information on the John Ford Ireland Film Symposium please go to our website www.johnfordireland.org or contact us on [email protected] where you can learn more about the event and have your details added to our mailing list keeping you updated on developments.
