HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Flood and Humanitarian Relief for Pakistan

Time: 9pm

Venue: St Peters Church, Bandon

Tickets: €10

Note: Tickets are limited and Eric's performance last year was a sold out event, so book early to avoid disappointment.

Next Friday the 15^th October Bandon Film Society in association with Partnership for Change a not for profit climate change initiative will be screening the acclaimed 1931 film Dracula in St Peters Church Bandon with the renowned composer Dr Eric Sweeney to raise funds for flood and humanitarian relief in Pakistan. All proceeds from the event are being donated to the Karachi Relief Trust.

According to the UN the number of people suffering in Pakistan is double the combined total of the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The total number affected by the recent floods is 20 million.

Two years ago I met Ayesha Siddiqi, a young Pakistan graduate at a climate change conference. Little did I know that within two years both our countries would be hit by natural disasters as a result of extreme weather events. Our towns and cities have largely been rebuilt, nobody perished in the floods, we have survived one catastrophe to witness another economic crisis. But this pails into insignificance to what the people of Pakistan are currently experiencing. The earthquake that hit northern Pakistan in 2005 killed 85,000 people, made more than 3million homeless with more than 1000 hospitals destroyed. Now less than five years later they are suffering the worst humanitarian crisis to befall a nation in modern times. The floods devastated the already flimsy public health system destroying hundreds of clinics and inundated an area more than twice the size of Ireland, crippling Pakistan’s agriculture and its economy.

Ayesha is currently working with Karachi Relief, a Pakistan Disaster Management Voluntary Organization (www.karachirelief.org) supported by civic minded volunteers. She contacted me recently appealing for help. They have set up camps in some of the worst affected areas and are providing food sanitation, shelter, medical supplies and clean drinking water. The organisation is entirely run and managed by unpaid professionals like Ayesha, volunteering their time and resources in an attempt to make a difference.

Dracula: 15th October 2010 9pm St Peters Church, Bandon

This is a 1931 film adaptation of the 1897 novel of Dracula by Irish author Bram Stoker.Dracula is one of the earliest classic American horror films, an acclaimed masterpiece directed by Tod Browning. This version of the film is still regarded by many as the best film adaptation of the orginal book. A motion picture for people who love cinema the opening scenes set in Dracula’s castle are magnificient. Dr Eric Sweeneys simultaneous masterful performance of the film score on organ uses melodic and dissonant themes to heighten the macabre atmosphere without upstaging the film, itself. Experience the savory melodrama, absorbing spectacle and horror that so startled and amazed audiences nearly eighty years ago. This screening of Dracula as with Last years Phantom of the Opera should be a night to remember.

Note: This is an extraodinary screening and live musical performance. Tickets €10.

Proceeds with be donated to Karachi Relief in Pakistan

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: 13th Oct 2010

An engrossing and sometimes disturbing mystery based on Stieg Larsson's best selling crime novel The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a classically suspenseful story. An intriguing and intelligent thriller boasting outstanding performances and relentless pace. This is a mind-bending and mesmerizing thriller that takes its time unlocking one mystery only to uncover another, all to chilling and immensely satisfying effect.

His and Hers: 25th Sept 2010

No other film this year has told such a strong story with such touching conviction. The movie is an enchanting portrait of Irish women as they share in a frank, funny and gracious manner, the story of their relationships with men from childhood to dating and marriage to old age. The story is told by a 90 year old woman and is represented by seventy different women throughout the film. It’s a unique style of story telling and a unique story finding comedy in the mundane, tragedy in the profound and providing an original insight into life.

Lemon Tree: 9th June 2010

A Palestinian widow tries to protect her lemon grove when an Israeli government minister moves in next door. Her trees are seen as a potential threat to his security, a hiding place for terrorists and she is issued orders to have it uprooted. However, the security forces have not reckoned on the grit and determination of the widow, who engages young Palestinian lawyer in her attempt to try and save her trees. This is a film based on a true story.

Flame and Citron: 12th May 2010

Danish drama set in Copenhagen during World War II, based on real events and eyewitness acounts. The film tells the tale of two fighters in the Danish resistance who put everything on the line in their fight against the Nazis. As they get closer to attacking the head of the Gestapo, the men realize that they can only trust each other.

Conversations With My Gardener: 14th April 2010

French drama starring Daniel Auteuil as a successful artist, weary of Parisian life and on the verge of divorce, returns to the country to live in his childhood house. When he hires a gardener who happens to be a former school friend, a warm, fruitful conversation starts between the two men. As they see everything through each other's eyes, they find a beauty they have never seen before.