Ireland’s moving pictures

A resident of Ennis.

It was the photographic assignment that became a moving picture - in both senses of the phrase - nearly 50 years later.

Photos To Send is a documentary which retraces the steps of acclaimed Life magazine photographer Dorothea Lea, who took more than 2400 shots of the people of Ennis in County Clare, Ireland in 1954.

A few years ago Irish-American cinematographer Deidre Lynch returned to Ennis to find what happened to the place and the people who featured in the photos.

She found that not much had changed in the rural area's traditional way of life.

The prize-winning film, which screened at the New Zealand Film Festival last year, is getting a special opening night on Thursday, hosted by the Ireland Fund of New Zealand at the Academy Cinema before starting a season there. (For bookings, phone Consulate General of Ireland, (09) 977 2252 or consul@ireland.co.nz).

Meanwhile, another film festival hit is also having a special screening on the same night.

The University of Auckland's Hispanic Club is showing Motorcycle Diaries, about the early life of revolutionary Che Guevara.

The film is screening at the Rialto Newmarket at 6.30pm.