City Arts Centre, in association with Temple Bar Gallery and Studios is pleased to present a public lecture by renowned American film maker Rob Nilsson.

Rob Nilsson is an independent film maker based in San Francisco whose work has been honoured with numerous awards - he was the first American director to win both the Camera d¹Or at Cannes for Northern Lights and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival for Heat and Sunlight. He is a pioneer in the techniques of video to film transfer which led to today¹s digital revolution. His work has been screened at festivals in the United States and abroad including Mill Valley, Toronto, Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Locarno.

Rob Nilsson created a low budget cinematic style called Direct Action ­ a method of creating drama from character and circumstance seeking emotional depth and street level authenticity. In 1991 he established the Tenderloin yGroup ­ a drama workshop for homeless people, inner city San Francisco residents and professional actors. Now in its thirteenth year, the Tenderloin yGroup meet weekly and feature in Nilsson¹s current 9@Night film series ­ a unique cycle of nine narrative films linking the lives of 50 people living in the Tenderloin area.

Rob will share the platform with Chikara Motomura, editor and co-producer of the 9@Night series and actor Gabriela Maltz of the Tenderloin yGroup.

This lecture is one of a series of seminars and research prefacing artist Mick O¹Kelly¹s forthcoming project for Temple Bar Gallery and Studios. ŒAn Artwork for an Imperfect World¹ specifically addresses the subject of homelessness and will site a food van in a contemporary art space, raising compelling questions about the potential of an artwork and the function of a gallery.

This is a free event and all visitors are welcome. City Arts would like to acknowledge the support of SIPTU in providing the venue.

For further details contact Louise Walsh, City Arts Tel 01 677 0643 Email louise@cityarts.ie