Cork music and film enthusiast bringing joy to January with innovative festival

A Leeside music and film enthusiast is bringing some joy to January with an innovative festival combining the two passions.

Ronan Leonard, who has been presenting one-off screenings in various venues and festivals in Ireland, Europe and the UK since 2009, is the creative producer and presenter of CineCeoil.

“It’s a festival celebrating music in film — so that’s music documentaries, that’s music videos and then it’s film that’s deeply inspired by music,” he said of the three-day festival running this weekend.

“I’ve always wanted to develop my presentation of a ‘live in-person radio show of music videos’ and hitting a 15th anniversary seems like the right time, it’s a real ‘if not now, when?’ moment.

“I have selected three feature-length films and four music video programmes that stretch across genres but also cover so much of what both music and film tap into; the personal, the political, the heartfelt, the loud, the quiet, the accessible, the awkward, the fun and the inventiveness of expressing yourself with whatever you have at hand.”

The festival, which will be held in The Pavilion on Carey’s Lane, will feature the Irish premiere of Jacqueline Reem Salloum’s Slingshot Hip Hop (Saturday, 3.30pm) – a documentary film on the Palestinian Hip Hop movement.

“It’s about people using their voices in Palestine to express themselves. That was made 15 years ago, but it’s probably even more relevant now than it was then,” Ronan said.

Saturday’s lineup will also feature the world premiere of The Year of The Langer (6.30pm), a film directed and produced by Scooter Twomey using footage he recorded over a year with Los Langeros — a group of Irish, Scottish and English musicians who were based in Cork in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

On Sunday evening, CineCeoil will screen the Irish premiere of Love, Gilda (7pm) — a 2018 American Canadian documentary directed and co-produced by Lisa D’Apolito about the life and career of Gilda Radner using Radner’s diaries, audio tapes, home movies and interviews with some of her closest friends.

Radner was the very first performer to be hired for the legendary Saturday Night Live in 1975 and what followed was a glittering solo and ensemble comedic journey, her health and her marriage to Gene Wilder until her death in 1989.

Celebrating music videos is the second strand of what CineCeoil is all about, and there will be four shows running for approximately 40 minutes each.

CineCeoil #28 today at 6pm will focus mainly on music videos from the last 12 months, mostly but not exclusively Irish.

This will be followed by CineCeoil #29 at 7pm which will feature a “wide range of interesting videos from many corners and genres of the globe”.

CineCeoil #30 on Sunday at 4pm will be a mix of music videos and songs selected to “entertain all ages” and CineCeoil #31 on Sunday at 5pm will be all instrumental music videos.

“Music videos are a great way for ideas to be shared, many great film directors have cut their teeth making them, and many musicians have managed to reach audiences in areas that they haven’t yet played in,” he added.

“Some have become iconic, more have been memorable and many have been very effective.”

Showcasing a diverse range of work “on big screens and proper sound systems” is at the heart of CineCeoil’s ethos.

“An issue has existed since smartphones became prevalent — but particularly from habits we developed during lockdown — we have got used to sharing YouTube clips on social media and WhatsApp to show we like (or don’t like) things… but we don’t share time watching them together.

“CineCeoil is about trying to find a more communal way to give the work of musicians and filmmakers a good listen and concentrated watch, on big screens and proper sound systems,” said Ronan. “People put so much passion into making things, but as an audience we’ve got very passive about how we receive it.”

And for Mr Leonard, who is also a member of the IndieCork team, entertaining people has been a lifelong pursuit.

“I’ve always been a putter-onner of stuff and a liker of ideas. My first ever band, our second gig I put on when I was too young to be in the pub!

“I get bored when things aren’t happening, and I just want more things to happen, and this is something I can make happen.”

Ticketing for the upcoming festival will be on a ‘pay-as you-can’ model, which Ronan said has been made possible by the support of Judy Wilkins and Benny McCabe at The Pavilion.

“It’s incredibly accessible for everyone because I’m doing it as a pay-as you-can model.

“There’s some people who have nothing in their pocket and they’re more than welcome and there’s other people who have a little something in their pocket and they’re more than welcome too.”

“It’s a very modest festival putter-onner, it’s a complete one man band operation!”

Any money raised, says Ronan, will be split towards paying the creators, the festival costs and future projects of CineCeoil.

It’s also hoped that CineCeoil will help people to beat the January blues.

“This is the worst weekend of the year — everyone’s bills come in and the back-to-school blues have hit in people’s houses — so I’ve deliberately chosen this weekend as the weekend to try it,” he concluded.

Booking in advance is advised via Eventbrite - here.