On Friday, 7 April, at the access Cinema Viewing Sessions in Drogheda, Mary Cloake, Director of the Arts Council, launched the report, Digital cinema in Ireland (1.47 MB, Adobe PDF), which was commissioned by the Cultural Cinema Consortium.

The Cultural Cinema Consortium is a strategic partnership between the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board. The consortium has supported and developed a national infrastructure for cultural cinema in Ireland with the roll out of two major capital funding programmes, which have been instrumental in improving and enhancing the cinematic experience for audiences throughout the country. Light House Cinema, Smithfield, a four-screen cultural cinema, is the first of the major capital projects, supported by the consortium, to come on stream and will open in Smithfield, Dublin, on Friday, 9 May.

The Cultural Cinema Consortium commissioned Digital Cinema in Ireland, by Ron Inglis, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the digital cinema environment and to inform policy development in this area into the future. The report details the technological advancements in the distribution and exhibition of film and it outlines a number of options for the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board to consider in order to provide new opportunities for audiences of cultural cinema in Ireland.