Martin Duffy (born 25 August 1952 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. Starting as a film-editor at Radio Telefís Éireann in the late 1970s, he expanded into writing children's shows in the 1980s with the Lambert Puppet Theatre, ''

Wanderly Wagon ''Wanderly Wagon'' is an Irish children's television series which aired on RTÉ from Saturday 30 September 1967Hourihane, Anne Marie''Sunday Tribune'' 11 August 2002. until 1982. Plot ''Wanderly Wagon'' followed human and puppet characters as t ...

'', '' Fortycoats & Co.'', ''

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'' and '' Scratch Saturday''. He left Irish national television in 1989 to become a freelance editor and in 1995 found funding for his first feature film, '' The Boy from Mercury'', a film set in 1950s Dublin about a young boy whose life revolves around the escapism of Saturday afternoon

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

serials at his local cinema. The film received international critical acclaim and several awards, but was a commercial dud. Martins book about the making of the film, '' The Road to Mercury'', is an insightful look into the mechanisms of the

Irish film industry The Irish film industry has grown somewhat in recent years thanks partly to the promotion of the sector by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and the introduction of heavy tax breaks. According to the Irish Audiovisual Content Production Sector Review ...

. He has since directed three feature films, continuing to work with young actors and creating family films, '' The Bumblebee Flies Anyway'', starring

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, ''

The Testimony of Taliesin Jones ''The Testimony of Taliesin Jones'' is a 2000 British drama film directed by Martin Duffy and starring John Paul Macleod and Jonathan Pryce. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Rhidian Brook. Cast * John Paul Macleod – Taliesin ...

'' and '' Summer of the Flying Saucer'', a family film about a UFO that crashlanded in rural Ireland in 1967. He continues to work as a freelance editor when he is not directing, and has written several books for children, as well as a travelogue and a family history. He now resides in

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

Selected filmography

* '' Summer of the Flying Saucer'' (2008) * ''

'' (2000) * '' The Bumblebee Flies Anyway'' (1999) * '' The Boy from Mercury'' (1996)

Selected television work

* ''

'' (Writer) * '' Fortycoats & Co.'' (Writer) * ''

'' (Writer) * '' The Dubliners Dublin'' (Writer)

Selected writings

* '' Barney and Molly: A True Dublin Love Story'' (2006) * '' The Road to Mercury'' (1996/2006)

External links

Home of filmmaker and author Martin Duffy on the web
*
Splice of Life, a short film by Martin DuffyMartin Duffy: "Being a Filmmaker is Not About Having Total Control"
Article about the director.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duffy, Martin 1952 births Living people Irish film directors People from Crumlin, Dublin