Literature on film
During the week of the 22nd - 26th November the Verbal
Arts Centre marks the Foyle Film Festival with a series of filmed
adaptations of works of literature which have become celebrated
in their own right.
From its inception the film industry has trawled the field of
literature’s rich pickings for material which it can dramatise
or adapt to its own particular form.
While some cinemagoers may say, “It’s not as good
as the book” or “It’s not the way I imagined
it” the truth is that most of us relish the experience of
watching this transformation made from page to screen. For this
week we have selected some of the books we have loved which have
successfully made the transition into film and hope that you will
enjoy the chance to see again some old favourites or enjoy for
the first time perhaps the filmed version of books you have loved.
Monday 22nd November
4:00pm Children’s Show The
Jungle Book
7:30pm The
Unbearable Lightness of Being
Tuesday 23rd November
4:00pm Children’s Show The
Cat in the Hat
7:30pm The
English Patient
Wednesday 24th November
4:00pm Children’s Show James
and the Giant Peach
7:30pm The
Hours
Thursday 25th November
4:00pm Children’s Show Charlotte’s
Web
7:30pm The
Third Man
Friday 26th November
8.00pm
The Bernard MacLaverty
Lecture
From Page to Screen
To round off our week dedicated to film and literature we have
a supreme exponent of both arts. Bernard MacLaverty, author, scriptwriter,
filmmaker and general renaissance man talks on the fascinating
subject of turning the written word into the filmed image - what
is lost and what is gained and the synergetic relationship between
the two forms.
This promises to be one of the highlights of our programme and
anyone with an interest in literature or cinema or both should
make every effort to be here.
Born in Belfast Bernard
MacLaverty first came to prominence with the publication
of such exquisite writing as Cal and Lamb both of which he successfully
adapted for the screen. His screenplay and scriptwriting credits
for film television and radio combine with his novel and short
story writing to make him one of the most versatile of writers
and he has recently made the move into directing with a stunning
short film based on Seamus Heaney’s Bye Child.
Working with the BBC recently he said that, although he now lives
in Glasgow, Northern Ireland will continue to be a source of inspiration
for his work because he so enjoys the cadences and rhythms of
our speech. That he captures these rhythms both in writing and
on film is part of what makes his work so enjoyable. We are fortunate,
therefore, to have the chance to hear his examination of what
it is that makes it all so successful.
Tickets: £5/£3
