24/12/2002

Rory Concannon, currently marketing director of Dublin’s legendary Abbey Theatre, has been appointed managing director (MD) of the new Dublin International Film Festival which will be held from 6-13 March 2003.
Concannon, formerly employed by the Cork Film Festival and the European Co-ordination of Film Festivals, will take up his new position after Christmas. Commenting on the DIFF’s new MD, Michael Dwyer, festival director a major asset to the new Festival”.
The DIFF was launched last November by co-founders Michael Dwyer and producer David Mcloughlin (Dead Bodies). Other members of the Festival board include Sue Bruce-Smith, former head of sales at Film Four International and now head of production at Little Bird Films, producer Arthur Lappin (Bloody Sunday), Niamh McCaul, MD of independent distributor Eclipse Pictures, Mary Allegeun, one of Ireland’s most experienced film line-producers, Gordon Judge, a leading Irish entertainment lawyer, and Martine Moreau of the French Embassy in Dublin.
The first DIFF will be held in Dublin’s Screen Cinema, with a number of gala screenings taking place at the Savoy 1 Cinema. The first line-up of selected international titles will be announced next month.