Flogging Molly - Irish American News

January 2012 Irish American News “We’ve Always Been Green!” 7
John Ford Ireland Project Announced
The Irish Film & Television Academy
(IFTA), in association with
the John Ford Estate and the Irish
Department of Arts, Heritage and the
Gaeltacht, is delighted to announce
the establishment of John Ford
Ireland—the annual Symposium celebrating
the work and legacy of John
Ford. American filmmaker CLINT
EASTWOOD (J. Edgar, Unforgiven,
Million Dollar Baby) has received the
inaugural John Ford Award.
The Irish Film & Television Academy
will through JOHN FORD IRE-
LAND, lay the foundations for honouring,
examining and learning from
the work and legacy of legendary
filmmaker John Ford, who is widely
regarded as one of the most important
and influential filmmakers of his
generation. An annual gathering in
Dublin will celebrate Ford’s ongoing
influence on contemporary Cinema.
The Academy is working closely with
leading Ford authorities, enthusiasts,
experts and Academics throughout
the world to bring the legacy of Ford
back home to Ireland (see details on
the Symposium below).
Ford, an Irish-American whose
parents were raised in the West
coast of Ireland, was a Pioneer of
Cinema and created some of the most
enduring films in cinematic history,
combining exceptional creativity
and innovative storytelling genius
in a body of work (136 films) which
spanned almost 60 years.
Ford’s films are recognized
amongst the best films ever made
such as The Grapes of Wrath, How
Green was my Valley, Stagecoach and
The Searchers (the greatest American
Western of all time says the American
Film Institute). Ireland and Irish
themes featured heavily in numerous
FORD films and he took great pride
in employing Irish talent including
Ireland’s Abbey players (Sara Allgood,
Barry Fitzgerald etc) who went
to Hollywood to work with Ford.
The John Ford Award
Each year the John Ford Ireland
committee, which consists of leading
international experts on John Ford,
will select one contemporary filmmaker
to be presented with the John
Ford Award; a filmmaker who has
similar incredible skill and vision as
Ford. A Filmmaker who has learned
from the mastery of John Ford and
who best represents Ford’s legacy and
ideals to the world—an individuality,
a uniqueness of vision, an artistic
talent that is admired and enjoyed by
audiences throughout the world.
Clint Eastwood receives the inaugural
John Ford Award.
John Ford still holds the record
for winning the most Oscars for Best
Director along with claiming the
very first AFI Lifetime Achievement
Award, presented to him by President
Richard Nixon. Over a film career
spanning fifty seven years, Ford
directed 136 films, receiving
26 Oscar Nominations.
Ford was the first film maker
to receive America’s highest
honour—the Medal of
Freedom.
John Ford always emphasised
his Irishness and paid
numerous visits to the land
of his parentage throughout
his life—including a visit to
his father’s birthplace Spiddal,
Co. Galway, during the
Civil War and a confrontation
with the Black and Tans!
His beloved yacht the Araner,
was named in honour of his
mother’s birthplace—the
Aran Islands. He shot The
Quiet Man in 1951 in Cong,
Co. Mayo, placing Ireland
firmly on the map as a filming
destination.
His homage to Ireland
and to the Irish experience
emerges through the many
subjects and characterisations
explored in his films.
The Informer based on the IRA novel
by the Aran Islander Liam O’Flaherty
and for which Ford won his first
Oscar; Mother Machree which is notable
as the first Ford film to feature
the young John Wayne, his last silent
feature Hangman’s House set in Co.
Wicklow; The Plough and the Stars
for which The Abbey Players traveled
to the States to star in; The Rising of
the Moon filmed in Ireland and the
partly directed Young Cassidy a biographical
drama based upon the life
of Irish playwright Sean O’ Casey.
Ford also fought during World
War II making documentaries for
the Navy Department. Although
wounded during filming he managed
to make two Oscar winning films
during this time—the semi documentary
The Battle of Midway and
7th December.
The leading directors of
the 20th century cinema
have acknowledged Ford’s
genius—from Orson Welles,
Alfred Hitchcock, Frank
Capra, Howard Hawks, Elia
Kazan, to Ingmar Bergman
and Federico Fellini. Today’s
modern Hollywood
film makers have also all
cited Ford or a Ford film as a
huge influence on their own
career from Clint Eastwood
to Martin Scorsese, Steven
Spielberg and George
Lucas.
Ford was one of the
prime influences on the
radical French New Wave
movement in the 1950s and
1960s. The acclaimed Japanese
director Akira Kurosawa
worshipped Ford along
with the great Indian director
Satyajit Ray. Amongst
countless praises for his
films, Orson Welles is said
to have watched Stagecoach
over forty times in preparation for
making Citizen Kane.
John Ford Ireland
Symposium
Plans are now underway for the
first John Ford Ireland Symposium,
scheduled to take place in Dublin in
June 2012.