Following the success of the 2024 IFCO Centenary lecture series, DIFF is once again partnering with the Irish Film Classification Office to give a public platform to three emerging film and media students and early career researchers.

In 2024, the remaining IFCO records from the censorship period were deposited in the National Archives. These records represent a fascinating insight into cinema exhibition in Ireland and the central role which censorship played in shaping Irish film culture.

For 2025, our participants will give vibrant and exciting presentations on the extent to which the audience ratings awarded to theatrical content has reflected Irish society and evolving community values. The IFCO Collection in the National Archives is a rich information source in this regard. Contributors will present on their findings on the research of their choice:

Conor Ryan
Born and raised in Dublin, Conor Ryan is a graduate of the National Film School at IADT. That means he can talk as loud as he likes in the cinema and there's nothing you can do about it. He writes about film and live comedy. His work has been published by HeadStuff, Anfa Collective, and Cambridge University. He hopes one day to become the fifth Beatle but he would also settle for becoming the second Groucho Marx. In his lecture, he explores the censorship of film comedy in Ireland with a particular focus on Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Vanessa Byrne
Vanessa Byrne is a graduate of Screenwriting - Film Studies (M. Phil) at Trinity College Dublin. She is also a graduate of Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Galway and has studied at The School of Drama, The New School, New York. Vanessa has worked as an actor, director, stage manager and dramaturge across Ireland, the UK and the US. She has also worked across multiple festivals through Ireland and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Vanessa's lecture will seek to analyse and interrogate queer female representation in film over the last two decades and will ask how this representation has evolved over time.

Denis Condon
Denis Condon is a lecturer in film at Maynooth University, where his research focuses on early Irish cinema. In this talk, he will be focusing on the operation of the Office of the Film Censor in its first year, following James Montgomery's appointment in November 1923. Offering examples of how specific films were cut, he'll be looking at the way the office interpreted the legislation to address the challenges from exhibitors/ distributors, cinema audiences, and lobby groups seeking strictly enforced regulation.