Ballina Film Club’s autumn/winter programme continues on Tuesday December 16 at 8pm, with The Bothersome Man in Ballina Arts Centre. Norwegian director Jens Lien's debut, The Bothersome Man is a surreal, idiosyncratic black comedy. When forty-year-old Andreas (Trond Fausa Aurvag ) mysteriously arrives in a strange city, with no memory of how he arrived, it seems a perfect place to live. He is fitted out with an office at an accountancy firm, and a smart new apartment. The people are friendly; he even finds romance with the pretty Anne-Britt (Petronella Barker ). But beneath the surface, there is something sinister. This clean, efficient, smiling town is entirely without human feeling. Dinner parties are strangely joyless affairs, where friends obsess over interior decor. Hot chocolate is bland. And anyway, where on earth is he? Soon, Andreas is determined to escape. Admission costs €7.
Derelict: Silent and Still at Ballina Arts Centre
Throughout the month of December, Ballina Arts Centre is hosting Derelict: Silent and Still, a study of dereliction and decay by Killala-based artist Niall Kerrigan. The exhibition of photographs depicts abandoned derelict houses around north Mayo where, during urban renewal, they were left behind as their inhabitants moved on. They have been stripped of all but the barest evidence that they were once inhabited by humans: a broken plate, a discarded shoe, they exude a sense of abandonment and loss. They have been left as, quite literally, a waste of space. Each of them found rotting in silence. “I endeavoured to give them a voice using only framing and natural light”, the artist explains. “These pictures are not about the people who abandoned them, but about the places themselves. They illustrate the architecture of abandonment, finding structure in the chaos and respecting the dignified silence that pervades these often abused, abandoned structures. Nothing was moved or touched in these buildings, none of the pictures were set up.” Free admission. All are welcome to attend, exhibition runs until December 23.
Ballina Film Club presents… Andrei Tarkovsky
Ballina Arts Centre will kick off 2009 in style with a month-long programme of films by acclaimed Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. Ballina Film Club presents Andrei Tarkovsky will comprise a programme of some of the auteur’s finest films. Born in Russia, Andrei Tarkovsky (1945-1986 ) was one of the 20th century’s most important filmmakers, with Ingmar Bergman saying “Tarkovsky for me is the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream’. Tarkovsky worked extensively as a screenwriter, film editor, film theorist and theatre director. He directed most of his films in the Soviet Union, with the exception of his last two films, which were produced in Italy and Sweden. His films are characterized by Christian spirituality and metaphysical themes, extremely long takes, lack of conventional dramatic structure and plot, and memorable cinematography. He died in Paris in 1986.
The programme will comprise four Tuesday night screenings (Solaris, The Sacrifice, Stalker and The Mirror ) as well as a dedicated secondary schools film, Ivan’s Childhood. There will be a series of screenings of the film for secondary schools. For more information on the programme, contact Ballina Arts Centre.
Christmas closing
Ballina Arts Centre will be closed from Tuesday December 23 to Monday January 5, giving the staff a well-earned rest after what has been another incredible year. Ballina Arts Centre would like to thank all of its sponsors, funders and patrons for their support and encouragement during 2008, which has been a real landmark year. This could not have been achieved without the support of a devoted audience and a supportive community. Happy Christmas to all and all the best in 2009.
Ballina Arts Centre is open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and 10am to 3pm on Saturdays. For information / booking, contact Ballina Arts Centre, Barrett Street, Ballina, Co. Mayo. Tel: 096 73593, email: [email protected], www.ballinaartscentre.com
