Movie memorabilia raises €22k for planned film hub

A silent auction of rare film memorabilia has raised more than €20,000 for the creation of a film hub in West Cork. The auction, which included eye-catching pieces such as signed script pages of Star Wars: Rogue One and Hercule Poirot’s moustache, was in aid of the creation of a film centre in Schull. The project aims to transform the old AIB bank in the heart of the village into a state-of-the-art film centre.

The landmark building was gifted to the Fastnet Film Festival and could cost as much as €1.5m to refurbish. The festival organisers plan to transform it into a world-class performance centre, including a 120-seater auditorium with a stage, cinema, and rooms for workshops, archives, greenscreen, editing, and more. In total, the silent auction saw 90 items auctioned off, with some €22,000 raised. Among the items was a framed Hercule Poirot moustache, worn by David Suchet in 1993. The framed moustache, created by Patricia Coogan O’Dell, David’s personal make-up artist on the original Poirot television series, sold for €550.