Irish Film Institute and St Mary’s release the early works of Thaddeus O’Sullivan on DVD

A DVD of five early and rarely-seen films by Pioneering Irish film director Thaddeus O’Sullivan was released on Thursday the 30th July by the Irish Film Institute (IFI) and St Mary’s University, Twickenham as part of the IFI’s ongoing series of archive-based DVD releases. The two-disc, digitally remastered DVD features five films that O’Sullivan made between 1974 and 1985 including the BAFTA nominated The Woman Who Married Clark Gable (1985) and a rarely shown film on Jack B. Yeats (1981). It also includes authoritative versions of his Royal College of Art (RCA) and British Film Institute (BFI) work from the 1970s. These early films launched a career which later included features such as December Bride, Ordinary Decent Criminal and Stella Days as well as television work. The IFI, which preserves the films in its Irish Film Archive, teamed up with St Mary's Head of School Prof Lance Pettitt, who carried out the research underpinning this new curation. Prof Pettitt said, “I’m delighted to have collaborated with the IFI. The DVD gives a golden opportunity to people who might be familiar with Thaddeus’ more recent screen work or know him by reputation, to explore his stylistic development during an experimental period of his career.” Kasandra O’Connell, Head of the IFI Irish Film Archive added, “We feel the appeal of these remarkable films reaches beyond academic audiences and that they will be of significance to anyone interested in brave and creative filmmaking by one of Ireland’s foremost directors.” The DVD is available to buy from the IFI Film shop or call (00) 353 1 679 5727.