A Pizzaman's Pictures: Patric Juillet's Life in Films and Food

Patric Juillet - A Pizzaman’s Pictures

From Provence to Dingle via Sydney, Hollywood and the Movie Business

21-22 September 2024 the Blasket Centre, Dún Chaoin, Dingle Co. Kerry

The Blue Zone in Dingle’s Green Street has long been a byword for some of the best pizzas in Ireland, with a huge and loyal following for gourmet sit-ins and takeaway pizza, great wines and delicious salads. The proprietor, Frenchman Patric Juillet has lived in Dingle for most of the past 30 years, is famous for his take on the Pizza and fine wines. He had stints with his acclaimed River God Café in Dingle and Galway . He is a genial host with what some would say is a zany sense of humour and a keen observer of human life.

In spite of being a well known fixture on the Dingle scene, Juillet is a very private character. It will come as a huge surprise to people who think they know him well that his career has included stints as an acclaimed ‘high-end’ restauranteur at the cutting edge of the Sydney fine dining scene, and a career as a Movie Producer in Australia and Hollywood. His introduction to Ireland was in 1991 with a project to make a film of the Blasket classic "Twenty Years Agrowing" by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin based on a script by poet Dylan Thomas.

On 21 and 22 September, the Blasket Centre in Dunquin, on the western edge of the Dingle Peninsula hosts “A Pizzaman's Pictures” - a retrospective showing of four feature films which Juillet produced, as well as an hour-long conversation with the man himself.

Juillet will share his life in films, the intriguing story of how he first came to Ireland in 1991 to make a movie, his association with Wendy Hughes, one of Australia’s finest actors with whom he shared two children, and how the arc of his varied life so far took him from his native Provence to a life on the Dingle Peninsula, and rubbing shoulders with Hollywood giants.

Four feature films Juillet produced in the 1980s in Australia will be shown:

Unfinished Business (Sat 21 Sep, 3pm) €5

Geoff, a journalist in his mid 40s, returns to Australia from 15 years abroad, leaving behind him in the US a failed marriage and three children. He meets Maureen, the girl he was in love with when he left Australia. She is married to an older man, George, who she loves but have no children. Maureen tells Geoff her husband is sterile and asks for him to impregnate her. A year later, Geoff meets Maureen and her baby. (Over 16s only)

Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train (Sat 21 Sep, 7pm) €5

A convent teacher spreads a little happiness and makes enough money to support her crippled brother's habit by selling her favors regularly on a cross-country night sleeper. She makes sure she is in control of each encounter until one client reaches her more than she expects. As her orderly business plan turns to chaos, she is forced to commit political assassination to keep her life and her freedom, but is there another way out? (Over 16s only)

Luigis Ladies (Sun 22 Sep 3pm) €5

A Black Comedy about women, friendship, sex, duplicity and money, centering on three women who meet regularly at an exclusive restaurant run by their friend and confidant Luigi. (Over 16s only)

Boundaries of the Heart (Sun 22 Sep 7pm) €5

Set in a small Aussie town full of friendly but nosy drunks. A fading beauty and her fugitive celebrity father run the only hotel and bar. Her admirers drifted away as the town shrank, leaving only one bitter ex-suitor. Their tiny world is shaken up by the arrival of two outsiders. A woman stays to marry the father, a man can't wait to escape the now desperate beauty's clutches. (Over 16s only)

A public interview with Patric Juillet (aka Paddy July), the intriguing film producer and proprietor of Dingle’s Blue Zone will be held on Saturday 21st September at 4.30pm.

A Pizzaman’s Pictures, in the intimate theatre of the Blasket Centre, promises a fascinating feast for film-lovers - and the merely curious, as well as adding another unique tale to the long story of Dingle’s characters. Not to be missed.

Booking: Pizzaman's Pictures online with EVENTBRITE. Admission €5 per film and €5 for the public Interview.