In Conversation with Jim Sheridan

Abstract

On 9th February 2016 SAH Journal was privileged to host a public interview with arguably Ireland’s most successful filmmaker, Jim Sheridan. Born in 1949, Jim Sheridan grew up in family of social and artistic activists in the Sheriff Street area of Dublin’s inner city. He studied at University College Dublin and worked with an emerging generation of writers, performers and theatre makers. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Project Arts Centre and he occupies a central position among a group of artists who have left an indelible mark on the creative and cultural life of Ireland over the past 40 years. Sheridan left Dublin for Canada and then the United States in the early 1980s and became the artistic director at the Irish Arts Center in New York. Following a course in film production at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, he returned to Dublin and became quickly involved in the burgeoning Irish film industry. The global impact of his debut feature film My Left Foot (1989) marked the beginning of a uniquely successful career as one of the outstanding Irish filmmakers on the international scene. This impact has continued to the present day with the international release of The Secret Scripture (2016). To coincide with the release of his latest feature film, SAH is delighted to publish an edited transcript of the stimulating conversation held at Dublin’s Filmbase between a number of film lecturers and Jim Sheridan.