Irish Studies Lecturer in Line-up for Leeds Gathering Festival

Following his inaugural lecture on Irish Cinema at Europe House, Prof Lance Pettitt, Director for the Centre for Irish Studies at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, will be a guest speaker at the Leeds Gathering Film Event. Belfast to Belgravia: Brian Desmond Hurst’s Life in Cinema will examine why Belfast-born filmmaker Brian Desmond Hurst should be better acknowledged as a cinematic bridge between the silent era of Rex Ingram and John Ford, and the Irish new wave that began in the 1980s. The talk, which is on Friday 21st November, will include video clips of Hurst’s key films such as Dangerous Moonlight (1941), Theirs is the Glory (1946) and the Dickens adaptation, Scrooge (1951). The event forms part of the 10th Leeds Gathering Festival which is a celebration of Irish music and arts organised by the Irish Arts Foundation, taking place from 10th- 29th November 2014. Prof Pettitt is a specialist on Irish cinema and Brian Desmond Hurst will be the focus of his inaugural lecture, Irish Cinema: Memoir, Nation and Self-narration, at Europe House, Smith Square, London on Thursday 20th November. During both talks he will use extracts from Hurst’s memoir Travelling the Road, having co-edited a recent version of the book. The Belfast to Belgravia event is free to attend and begins at 7.30pm at the Headingley Enterprise and Arts Centre in Leeds. For more information about the Leeds Gathering Festival, please visit the Irish Arts website.