Beckett Adaptation

You have to give Ireland's national TV company RTE credit: not only did they come up with a singularly ambitious idea to translate 19 of Samuel Beckett's plays into film, they also persuaded the cream of international cinematic talent to take part. The Beckett project, which premiered this week in Dublin, includes movies by Anthony Minghella, Neil Jordan, Patricia Rozema and Atom Egoyan. The prestigious project also managed to attract a host of A-list talent to feature, including Kristin Scott-Thomas (who once again teams up with Minghella), Oscar-winner John Hurt, Michael Gambon and Hannibal star Julianne Moore. The project was co-produced with Channel 4 and the Irish Film Board - but despite the number of partners, everything seems to have gone pretty smoothly. 'To have this talent matched by a range of acting ability of such great magnitude has made this a rare treat indeed,' smiles co-producer Michael Colgan.