Why Don’t We Do It In The Cove…?

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t was in a cinema far, far away – well, just over 15 miles, to be exact – in a time buried deep in the past that Dave Byrne first got the cinema bug.

The place was The Classic in Harold’s Cross, the film, Star Wars, and the spark lit that day has burnt brightly ever since.

To the point that Dave not only dedicates his every waking hour to movies – either through his Outdoor Movies ventures or his platform for new filmmakers, Underground Cinema – but he also does a neat sideline in becoming various Star Wars characters for premieres, comic book conventions and galaxy-hopping parties.

Having made Greystones a much cooler place to live over the last three years by hooking up with the bould Ross McParland at The Whale for a series of outdoor screenings down at The Cove – check ’em out here, kids! – Dave is currently bracing himself for not one but two film festival love-ins.

Running on the last weekend of the month, from Friday, August 31st to Sunday, September 2nd, at Dun Laoghaire’s Royal Marine Hotel, the Underground Cinema Film Festival boasts not only the latest and greatest short films around but also a Mini Con on the Sunday afternoon, and two very groovy Star Wars-themed documentaries to close out the festival. The big coup though is getting the great John Boorman – the man behind Point Blank, Deliverance and The General – to attend a Public Q&A to coincide with a 50th anniversary opening ceremony screening of Hell In The Pacific. You can find out more right about here.

Then, on Saturday, November 3rd, it’s the 9th Underground Cinema Short Film Awards, again at the Royal Marine, with this gala dinner celebrating the very best of the year’s short films. You can find out more on Facebook here, and grab your tickets here.

In the meantime, we caught up with Dave down at the scene of so many magical Greystones movie nights to talk taking it outside, digging the new breed, and the fine art of not being yourself…

You can find out more about Outdoor Movies here, and about Underground Cinema here.