Those associated with this year's Fermoy Film Festival put in a concerted effort to attract patrons and in theory there should be a market for this type of cinematic offering.

As any promoter will tell you, putting bums on seats isn't an exact science and sometimes it's hard to connect with the target audience. This writer paid two visits to the always impeccably presented Palace Theatre, Fermoy on Saturday, March 7th, the matinee show being the World War One classic 'All Quiet On The Western Front'.

Unfortunately the public didn't attend in any sort of numbers and viewing was left to the dedicated few - this despite there being free admission.

Things didn't get much better on Saturday evening when another World War One-inspired film 'The Blue Max', was shown. One would have expected a better turnout for this film (and indeed Sunday's 'Clash Of The Ash') considering part of it was filmed in the town - the epic stunt of fighter planes flying through the arches of the viaduct over the Blackwater.

Sunday night brought the 'local' film 'Clash Of The Ash' to the screen and was wonderful to have its director Fergus Tighe, present to chat to the audience about it.

EXPERIMENTAL

Speaking to The Avondhu this week, Kieran said the film festival was somewhat of an 'experimental undertaking' and that if it is to be repeated, the programme would need looking at and the public be given more of a choice in the content.

"We have invested in a projector for film club purposes, and we will concentrate on the film club and work on building up membership which, in turn, should help increase audiences for any future film festival."

Another guest speaker at the festival was Emelyn Heaps who replicated the stunt in 'The Blue Max' of flying under the viaduct in the 1980's in a plane he had built himself. In what was a very humorous and entertaining talk, he explained how he built the plane and the consequence of his daring feat which resulted in him losing his aviation licence

So, no fault can be laid at the feet of the festival committee who are putting their product 'out there' for the public to sample. The same applies to the venue, which must rate as once of the most versatile in the county.

Never afraid to push the boat out and try something new, Kieran Barry and his crew are preparing to host a mind reading show on Saturday week.

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