Super thrills, super memories, super festival: Super 8!

I’ve just had a fantastic adventure involving my distant past, cutting edge technology, passion, expertise, a missed flight and the discovery of lost treasure. Best of all, the whole thing was pure Galway!

Last time I was back in London I found an old 1960s vanity case in one of my mum’s cupboards. Clicking open the little metal clasps I revealed a collection of old cine films.

Swallowing hard, I tried to keep down deep emotion.

Nobody in the family had seen these little babies for 40 years. I snuck them into a carrier bag and brought them home with me.

Googling ‘Super 8 conversion to DVD Ireland’ brought up a link to a company called Super8Ireland. Where were they based? How far would I have to drive, only to find out I couldn’t afford to pay for the conversion?

Where else of course than Dominick Street, Galway City! Any doubts I’d felt about the enterprise vanished. This was starting to feel as if it was meant to happen, and by the time I’d spent a half hour in the company of Julien Dorgere, I was more than sure.

Even though he’s from France and I’m from England I knew he was pure Galway. Passionate about his work, brimming with love for music and film, he exudes a calm confidence and no shortage of style.

How did he end up in the West of Ireland?

“I came here working as a translator and conference interpreter, missed the plane from Galway back to France at the end of the year and decided to stay. I worked as a translator, while having my Super8 website (http://www.super8ireland.com) on the side.”

More pure Galway than I ever imagined. There are many reasons we blow-ins end up here in Galway, most of which start “Came for a few days, got drunk…” and end “… ran out of money…” But the missing of that plane sounded more kismet that craic-driven.

Soon Julien was working full time with Super8, bombarded as he was by customers who wanted to digitise their old films. At the same time he kept his beloved 8mm format alive by supplying cine equipment, films and advice to film shooters worldwide.

Having worked on film and music collaborations with Donal Dineen, Vivienne Dick and Mike Smalle, Julien performed as Mr Weasel at the Galway Arts Festival, DEAF, Tulca Visual Arts Festival, Artisit! and the Electric Picnic. But that wasn’t enough for this French Galwegian.

He also wanted to celebrate the 8mm format, so he did what many Galwegians had done before: he created a festival.

More of that later. I want to get back to my adventure, which culminated three weeks after my initial meeting with Julien, when I returned home with 10 beautifully formatted DVDs, guaranteed to generate much happiness within my family this Christmas. 

Plonking myself down in my chair, I watched the first 10 years of my life unfold.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.