But things were about to take a sharp turn for the worse in Act Two. The sod was turned by Michael D Higgins in 2009 but mere weeks later seawater flooded into the foundation, seriously compromising a neighbouring house, which had to be rebuilt. It would cost nearly half a million euros to do so. Soon after, in the midst of a global recession, the construction company that was building the cinema terminated the contract and by the time a new construction firm was assigned, funding for the project had run out. The department refused to release more money in 2012 and the project managers were forced to raise more funds locally. This led to a loan from the Western Development Commission, as well as further investment from the Film Board and Galway City Council, but problems persisted.
In 2015, Galway City Council formally took over the management of the project and Element Pictures, led by Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, were approached by Doolan to came on board as operators. They signed on in 2016 agreeing a 30-year lease with the City Council, pledging to spend more than a million euro on completing and furnishing the cinema, as well as repaying the Western Development Commission loan. In 2017 work began on fitting out the cinema and there was light at the end of the tunnel but more trouble was to follow. The auditors of Solas resigned and the Charities Regulator launched an inquiry before Solas itself went into liquidation. Subsequently the State spending watchdog criticised the lack of oversight in the project while the Comptroller and Auditor General criticised the State’s assessment of the business potential of the project, particularly the projected customer attendance. It was estimated that the cinema, now officially called Pálás would need some 1,500 cinema-goers through the door on a weekly basis to remain commercially viable.
But Element Pictures have form here, having taken over the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield and reopening it in early 2012. In that time it has doubled its audience figures thanks to their canny management of the venue and some clever programming for a variety of audiences from programmer Charlene Lydon, focusing on cross-over independent cinema, cult favourites and popular retrospectives. Recent events have included a retrospective of the work of New Zealand director Taika Waititi who attended the Irish premiere of his entry into the ever-expanding Disney-Marvel cinematic universe,Thor: Ragnarok and a day of free screenings celebrating Irish cinema featuring the Oscar-nominated animation Song of the Sea, Older Than Ireland, The Young Offenders, The Lobster, and Lenny Abrahamson’s award-winning Room.
Going forward they hope to emulate the success of the Lighthouse with the Pálás but,without competition from the IFI, should be able to incorporate more purely arthouse and challenging cinematic output as well. The long-running Galway Film Society have already made the Pálás their home and with the 30th Galway Film Fleadh utilising the venue as well as the Town Hall Theatre it seems it is well set-up to become a space that can cater for Galway’s cineastes’ varied tastes.
Tribal Cinema
This brings us back to opening night. One prominent local paper was on the verge of apoplexy over the fact that the three (very fine) films selected to open the Pálás were also screening in the city’s two other cinemas. Having been present at the opening night one can’t help but feel that they are perhaps missing the point of the endeavour. Going back to the original vision for the project, it was conceived very much as a social space where people could meet, see a film of cultural significance and discuss it, share their thoughts and, ideally, argue about what it all meant.
In this way film culture has always been a tribal thing; from the days our ancestors sat around a fire watching the shadows dance over crude cave drawings, to the earliest days of cinema where people jumped and shrieked as one at the sight of an oncoming train courtesy of the brothers Lumiere, to the development of the film society movement and the first film festivals, the shared experience of communal film viewing and thoughtful discussion is a keystone element the film experience. It’s also something that we as a culture are very much in danger of losing.
Leaving to one side the various issues brought about by the prevalence of digital media and the proliferation of streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon, the notion of cinema as a communal experience is one that is being eroded more and more by the commercial nature of most cinema chains. Mainstream cinemas in Ireland are, for the most part, simply not a place for people to socialise. People go to the cinema to see the latest big films and then promptly leave. There is little or no concession to the social element of cinema-going.
This is where the Pálás offers something many Galwegians have long sought: It’s a place not just for people to see films but a space for them to engage with others and celebrate cinema as an artform. Long after the final reel had rolled on the films screened, cinema-goers talked at the bar about what they had seen, what they hoped to see there in the future and how much it meant to them. One customer, an avid cinephile, when asked about their thoughts on the night summed it up well saying “I’m glad there’s finally a place for me.”
It’s been a long, hard road to get here, but it looks like the Pálás truly has the potential to live up to its promise as a space for cinema to become truly tribal again. Now it’s up to the good people of Galway to attend in numbers, but if it’s going to happen anywhere then you wouldn’t bet against the City of the Tribes.
*I’m not sorry.
**yup, mediocre Simpsons reference ahoy.
32 CinÉireann / March 2018