IRISH director Neil Jordan has donated a wealth of notes and research material from his film career to the National Library of Ireland.
Sligo-born Jordan won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for ‘The Crying Game’.
He also received international critical acclaim for Michael Collins, The Butcher Boy, Breakfast on Pluto and many more.
More than 123 archival boxes of material from Jordan’s career are set to go on display, including film and TV scripts, production files, storyboards, notebooks and personal correspondence with actors, musicians and political figures.
We are delighted to have Oscar-winning writer and director Neil Jordan here today to mark the donation of his archive to the National Library of Ireland. pic.twitter.com/zT5DPTAuY6
— National Library of Ireland (@NLIreland) August 9, 2018
At an event announcing the donation, Jordan told RTE that he was “trilled” to be sharing the documents with the public.
The archive will be digitised and a public exhibition will take place in 2019.
Amongst them is a newspaper ad from September 1995 calling for 5,000 men to fill Bray’s Carlisle Grounds to recreate Bloody Sunday 1920, when the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Auxiliary Division killed 14 civilians at Croke Park.
A call for 5,000 extras to recreate Bloody Sunday in 1920 in the film Michael Collins is among the items. Men are told not to wear jeans. pic.twitter.com/jCPt1BsIJU
— Paul Hosford (@PTHosford) August 9, 2018
The ad requests for men to wear old-fashioned dark jackets, shoes and trousers.
Also included is a letter from actor Christian Slater, thanking Mr Jordan for his part of Daniel Molloy in the film ‘Interview with the Vampire’.
It read “Although I wish the circumstances under which I was cast could have been different, playing the role of Malloy could not have been a more rewarding experience for me.
“It was an honour to work with a cast and crew of such tremendous talent. Thank you again, for the opportunity. I look forward to seeing the finished, brilliant product.”
Two pieces from Interview With The Vampire here. Jordan's research on Louisiana family names, top, and a letter from Christian Slater thanking Jordan for casting him in the film, bottom. pic.twitter.com/SlFlzJBoEy
— Paul Hosford (@PTHosford) August 9, 2018
River Phoenix was originally cast for the role, but died of a drug overdose a few weeks before filming started.
Director of the National Library of Ireland, Dr Sandra Collins, said: “The National Library of Ireland is committed to preserving the story of Ireland through literature, film, still image, born digital content and more.
“Neil Jordan has had an indelible impact on filmmaking at home and abroad, and we are delighted that he has chosen to donate his rich and diverse archive to the NLI.
“We look forward to making this generous donation accessible to fans, researchers and the next generation of Irish filmmakers.”
