Sex in Irish Films

Award-winning Irish screenwriter and actor Mark O'Halloran joins Film Ireland magazine as guest editor for the January-February 2008 issue. Mark's films include Adam and Paul, and Garage, which is still on release in cinemas, and the critically-acclaimed television series Prosperity. Mark is the first of a series of Irish film industry guest editors who will be editing upcoming issues of Film Ireland.

The next issue of Film Ireland will be devoted exclusively to the topic of sex in Irish cinema. Mark says: "A serious examination of the whole issue of sex in Irish cinema and television has been largely overlooked by the media. I was very interested in asking some questions about representations of sex, nudity and related themes in Irish film, because it has always seemed to me that we're a bit shy about that in this country. It's also a topic which lets us discuss serious issues like sexuality and censorship, but also to get playful and ask people who their Irish sex fantasy would be and to look at the myths around Irish porn".

In conjunction with the publication of the issue, Film Ireland is also running an online survey of Irish attitudes to sex on screen. With a mix of serious and playful questions the survey hopes to capture a snapshot of opinion on the subject from the effectiveness of the TV watershed, to pornography, to the quality of sex scenes in Irish film.

The survey is anonymous and can be accessed from the Filmbase web site.