Pipe Up!

The Twitterverse is beginning to heat up with reaction to news yesterday that IFTA is seeking a written apology from The Pipe director, and winner of IFTA's George Morrison Documentary Award, Risteard Ó Domhnaill.

Receiving the Award Ó Domhnaill remarked to the effect that at €300 a ticket for the IFTA Awards there was probably one for everyone in the audience. A joke that played well on the night but the footage has since been removed by IFTA from social networking sites and, I hear, any comment about its removal has been moderated away.

That IFTA is looking for a written apology seems ridiculous and more than a little over the top. Far better that they would fully disclose all income and expenditure for the event, including nomination numbers and income, in order to demonstrate how they have no option but to limit the number of complimentary tickets for nominees and have a €300 ticket price.

And by the way, when it is reported that IFTA is looking for a written apology, who is it that is being referred to - IFTA Academy Limited (Dublin 20), Irish Film And Television Academy (Dublin 20), IFTA Awards Limited (Co. Westmeath), or Irish Film & Television Awards (Dublin 20)? Some are companies, some are business names, but is any of them a legally constituted academy of film and television practitioners? With an elected chairperson or president?