By Gillian Middleton.
What was once Smithfield’s gain has now become Dublin’s loss; the closing of the Light House Cinema marks a sad occasion for fans of left-of-centre movies in the capital. The closure is indicative of the times and how the cultural renaissance that was intended for Smithfield never really came to be. This is not the first time that the Light House Cinema has shut its doors. From 1988 until 1996, the Light House was a feature on Middle Abbey Street until the building was bought out and turned from art-house haven into a bargain basement.
Maretta Dillon, co-founder, in a statement to the Irish Film and Television Network said the Smithfield complex of which the Light House Cinema formed a part was financed largely by Anglo Irish Bank and the loan had been transferred to NAMA. The landlord had insisted on the rental increase due to his commitments to NAMA. This increase was agreed to before the cinema opened in 2008, when Smithfield was being reimagined as a space for chic young urbanites. As it happened, the chic hit the fan with the economic downturn and the attendees of the horse fair did not take to art-house cinema to any great extent.
It could be argued that even if the Light House had been better situated it still would never have been able to pay the doubled rent. Even films like Xavier Beauvois’s Of Gods and Men, which became an unexpected hit for the cinema this year are the exception rather than the rule. It’s safe to say that movie execs are unlikely to jettison their robot movies and rom-coms to see if North-African monastic life takes off as a genre, however, that was never the point. Art-house cinemas provide a space for movies that don’t have the mass appeal to be shown ten times every day. A cinema like this should never be reduced to bums-on-seats justification. It’s about culture. It’s about experiencing worlds and stories that don’t necessitate Megan Fox / Chris Hemsworth dressing in skimpy outfits to capture your attention.
The last movie which I went to see at the Light House was Snap, a film by Carmel Winters, which is, without doubt, one of the best Irish films that I have ever seen. Only six other people attended that screening, at least one of which had worked on the film. Did it detract from Winters’ brilliantly twisted storyline or Kate McCullough’s daring cinematography? Not in the slightest. The screening exemplified the fact that despite the difficult times for us all financially, Irish artists are still thriving creatively and deserve to be showcased.
The gorgeous design and quiet surrounds of the Light House Cinema in Smithfield made it a perfect space for this function. One cinema-goer described it as – “the only place where I felt comfortable going to the cinema by myself.” It was a cinema which was decidedly different but always welcoming and never pretentious.
The Gaze International Dublin LGBT Film Festival had a home there for the past two years. The contrast between the GAZE art-house films and the horse fair outside the door made for a most unusual August Bank Holiday weekend. Such moments were characteristic of the Light House’s charm. Even the IFI, often seen as a rival to the Light House, responded with despair to the closure of the cinema. It will be missed and one can only hope that Maretta and Neil will find some way to open the Light House Cinema in Smithfield again and that the space is not turned into another Tesco.
