“See You at the Pictures!”

How many times did you say those words, or have someone say them to you?

In the middle of December 2011, I became aware of a project at the hands of Planet Korda Pictures.

Planet Korda Pictures in association with RTÉ, were looking for stories or anecdotes about all aspects of the cinema-going experience from people of all ages within the island of Ireland. I could not resist adding my tuppenceworth to the stories already gathered.

In May of last year interviews were being held in Dublin and I was asked if I would be available for a chat. Always ready to try something new, I went along and it was a very interesting experience.

The aim of the project was to make a documentary about Ireland at the movies through eight decades. Like a journey through a shared history, with a very particular slant: growing up with the cinema.

Following months of travelling all over the land and interviewing cinema goers, a feature film is now ready and ‘See You at the Pictures!’ will be broadcast on RTÉ1 on Monday 1st April 2013 at 21:30 hrs.

I have no guarantee of being included, I might be lying in a bundle on a cold cutting room floor by now, but I will make it my business to watch and have my memory jogged about cinemas and films that I have forgotten all about.

Another aim, was to build a free online social history resource, a repository of information surrounding the history of Irish cinema. This is still a work in progress. The main focus of the site will be an interactive map of Ireland containing every cinema that has ever existed in the country. Eventually, when clicked on, each cinema will show video testimonials of former patrons, photographs and written accounts of people’s experiences there.