Student Articles
The Hitch-hikers Guide to the IFTAs (The Alternative View)
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- Published on Monday, 20 February 2012 14:37
The Hitch-hikers Guide to the IFTAs
(The alternative view)
By Eleanor McSherry
We have all heard and read the stories from the IFTAs last weekend but I want to offer an alternative view, a fly-on-the-wall piece, so to speak.
You can imagine my delight last Friday when I got a call to go to the IFTAs and for ‘free’ no less. My good friend Maeve McGrath (esteemed Limerick television, theatre and film actress/producer/director and all round good egg) had a spare ticket thanks to City Jet on Twitter. This was most excellent considering that the tickets for the show were €250 each, even if you were nominated. It was strictly ‘black-tie’ for the men and long floor length dresses for the ladies. So I went and dusted-off the auld best ‘guna’ for the occasion.
The IFTAs were on in the National Conference Centre Dublin on Saturday the 11th of February, 2012.
Before we even left, Maeve received an email of ‘rules’ for the occasion from IFTA. Oh yes, we could not speak to ‘the talent’, take photos etc, as this was their night off. I must admit I have never been called a rebel but for one night I was not going to miss out on talking to Michael Fassbender, Bressie etc. Not for anyone!
On the morning of the show, I decided to save a couple of Euros by getting the bus from Limerick – there’s four hours of my life I’ll never get back. We also spared no expense and walked down to the conference centre by the Liffey (oh the luxury).
At 5pm, we managed to successfully run up the red-carpeted stairs without a flashbulb popping. There were two entrances just inside the main door: a press/red carpet area or not. We opted for the non-press one. Later we found out that there was a Mac make-up section for those going on the red carpet. Now, that was an opportunity missed! Once inside we stood to the side of the carpeted section and sipped some ‘free’ wine from the Champagne reception while watching the ‘celebs’ pose and look stunning. I nearly died when Stephen Rhea walked passed me. It was a surreal experience and I had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream.
Then a call went out that we were to make our way to our seats at 6pm-ish. Of course, we had the ‘Croke Park’ seats, all the way up on the 4th floor. I tell you I nearly needed oxygen by the time I got up there. Also I don’t have a head for heights, so therapy might still have to be sought. Maeve assured me that the view was fantastic through the all window front of the centre…I’m sure it was.
Once in our seats the show began. We spent the whole time playing ‘spot the celebrity’ by the back of their heads. We could see everything though and it was a very nicely put together affair. I only have a couple of complaints though: the part of the show for the ‘technical’ awards was thrown together and came off very disingenuous towards the people who were nominated. There was a serious lack of respect. The ‘breaks’ we were promised were only 1-2 minutes at most. So going to the toilet became like the 100 metre dash in high heels and a long dress. It was quite cold where we were sitting too. There was also a serious lack of competition in the Television awards that was very noticeable. Other than that it was great.
Seeing as you already know who all the winners and losers were in detail, I won’t go over them again accept to say Chris O’Dowd is the business! He was hilarious! When the ‘Newcomer’ award was handed out, he was one of the nominees; the winner didn’t come up to take their award so he jumped up on the stage and proceeded to accept the award. Poor Simon Delaney said nothing and plodded along like it never happened. We were told later that it was cut from the final RTE edited version. Why, I don’t know it was just harmless fun.
The after-show party started around 9.30pm. We had the meal on the ground floor of the conference centre. I had to close my eyes to go back down the 4 floors from our seats! The room was very glam and it was divided into ‘celebs’ or the ‘talent’ on one side and ‘us’ on the other. The food was really nice but the dessert was ‘a chocolate sweet’. It seemed a bit mean, for €250! We also received a Mac goody bag.
After dinner there was music and we decided to stalk…I mean walk around the room. There were also photo booths dotted around where you could get pictures with your mates. They had IFTAs 2012 printed on the bottom and were for free, which was cool. The highlights for me were seeing and meeting: Bressie (The Voice), Neil DelaMare, Armand Assante, Pat Kenny, Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, Chris O’Dowd, Bronagh Gallagher, Allen Leech, Liam Cunningham, Jim Sheridan, Brian O’Driscoll and of course, my personal favourite, Michael Fassbender. Every celebrity was so nice, friendly and really accessible.
The bit of juicy gossip from the after-show party was Kathryn Thomas’s ‘meltdown’. I was just about to talk to Mr. Fassbender when Kathryn leapt onto the stage, which in fairness was tough to do in high heels! She seemed to be shouting incoherently at the band. It was bizarre! She eventually was pulled down by security and her friends. Also as I was leaving we heard about Whitney Houston death which was a sad ending to a brilliant night.
Now, a couple of days later I can reflect on the evening. Was it worth €250? Well, there is a serious side to these ‘awards’. It is a way of showcasing Ireland as a location for film production and celebrating the International talent that we have. Film is one of the few industries that is growing in this country and should be celebrated. Some would say that it is predictable and that it does not showcase the many independent, short and low budget films made in Ireland every year. I would say that if you want to see those go to the many wonderful film festivals all over the country. There is enough to go around. I think there definitely is a place for these awards, however I will not be going again unless I get nominated!
IFTAs Hitchhiker Top Tips: bring an oxygen mask (Croke Park seats), a Sherpa to carry all your stuff, comfortable shoes for the dash to the ladies or alternatively ‘incontinence pants’, a photographer (trying to take pictures on the run doesn’t work) and a good friend to have a laugh with.
