This content was published on January 29, 2023 – 08:45
(AFP)
The Belfast shipyards, where the Titanic was built, were in the 20th century one of the most important shipbuilding centers in the world, but in recent years they have been converted to movies and series.
A succession of major audiovisual projects helped Northern Ireland build a reputation as a home for the seventh art.
To the point that this region of the United Kingdom will soon be better known for having hosted a part of the filming of “Game of Thrones” than for the conflict that bloodied Northern Irish society, which ended with the agreement on Good Friday in 1998.
“There are probably more people in the world who only know Northern Ireland from ‘Game of Thrones’ than from our complicated history,” Richard Williams, the director general of Northern Ireland Screen, a regional body that promotes film, told AFP. audiovisual production.
In addition to the hit HBO series, the Netflix movies “The School for Good and Evil” and “The Northman” were also filmed in Northern Ireland, as well as the series “Dungeons and Dragons”. Filming of “Blade Runner 2099” is scheduled to begin there this year.
These productions on international platforms are joined by local projects, whose stories are set in Northern Irish society and which have received good reviews, such as Kenneth Brannagh’s “Belfast” or the comedy “Derry Girls” by Lisa McGee.
– ‘Cutting-edge technology’ –
The Belfast shipyards are home to some of Europe’s largest film studios, including Titanic Studios and Harbor Studios.
This conversion from shipbuilding to film production is not a fluke for Williams.
“There is a large amount of accumulated know-how (…). Doing things on time and respecting the budget is important”, he highlights two points in common, according to him, between the world of shipyards and cinema.
In addition, the British government offers tax breaks to the audiovisual sector and the administration strives to have state-of-the-art technology.
The University of Ulster, located in Belfast, reached a collaboration agreement with the port to multiply by four the number of large studios in Northern Ireland, explains Declan Keeney, director of the Ulster Screen Academy.
These new studios will provide the region “with state-of-the-art technology for movies and television,” says Keeney.
“We have a booming sector,” he adds.
– Variety of landscapes –
The university and academy, according to Keeney, represent a “ground for talent” with 900 students working in 3D technology, production and other areas of the audiovisual world.
Another of the keys to the growth of this sector is the beautiful landscapes of the region.
According to Naomi Liston, location manager for the filming of “Game of Thrones” and “The Northman”, the small size of Northern Ireland and the variety of its landscapes favored the decision of the production companies to shoot there.
“The most important thing is that to go from the studio to the north coast, one of the most beautiful places in the UK and Europe, it takes less than an hour,” says Liston.
“This saves money,” he adds.
The “boom” of cinema and television also encouraged the arrival of tourists to the region, visited by some 350,000 people in 2018, in the midst of the “Game of Thrones” phenomenon.
