ACTOR, producer and director, Sydney Pollack, was on entertaining form at an Irish Times/Film Institute of Ireland public interview at the IFC in Dublin on Wednesday night. The US film-maker, now 65, has no intention of retiring. Already this year he has been seen as an actor in A Civil Action and Eyes Wide Shut, the swansong of his longtime "telephone friend", the late Stanley Kurbick, who, Pollack revealed, was an ardent admirer Nescafe commercials. Through his Mirage Enterprises company, Pollack has produced eight movies this year, including Random Hearts, his latest film as a director which was screened before the public interview. Pollack is flying his own jet to 14 European cities to promote the movie.
Mirage also produced Blowdry (also known as Never Better), the new film by Irish director Paddy Breathnach, who finished shooting it on Monday last and was warmly greeted by Pollack when they bumped into each other in the Octagon bar of the Clarence Hotel before the interview. The movie, a comedy, stars Natasha Richardson and Alan Rickman.
Howard Kilroy and Rosemary Smith at the reception in the Old Wesley Rugby Club