Another intriguing chat in the Conversation section of Metropolis as we roll into Saturday evening. Our own Olaf Tyaransen welcomed actresses Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Ruth Bradley and writer-director Paul Duane to the stage for a discussion on Irish film.
The first hurdle was how to define what constitutes Irish cinema, with so many features now funded abroad.
"I don't think people care where films come from any more," opined Duane.
He did, however, argue that the government needed to improve their funding. "It's not as heavily funded as it should be."
Ruth Bradley suggested private funding was the way forward, with Duane pointing to the classic documentary Rocky Road To Dublin as an example of that done well.
"It's the most brilliant film about Ireland ever made... It nailed Ireland in 1968 and it nails Ireland in 2015."
Duane also expressed his problems with the national broacaster.
"RTE doesn't invest in film, in feature films. They just don't."
"Ireland is the only country in Europe," he continued, "who's national broadcaster has a policy of not investing in feature films."
Bradley talked about the Kickstarter model, and also suggested Netflix was the future; an "intermediary" between piracy and cinema.
The talk ended with Duane confessing that he was "cautiously optimistic" about the future of Irish film, saying it was nice to see the likes of John Carney making films that are reaching international audiences. Campbell-Hughes concurred, saying she had seen a lot of "curiosity" about Irish film abroad of late.