‘12 Years A Slave’ Director Steve McQueen inaugurates UCD Trapdoor

Image Credit: Dublin International Film Festival

Games Editor Joshua McCormack attends Steve McQueen’s inauguration of UCD Creative Futures Academy performance space, The Trapdoor.

I arrived in the Newman Building around 14:00. Down by Theatre 1, I entered into a feverish crowd numbering in the hundreds. Students, faculty, and the wider public. The purple carpet rolled out. Cameramen milling about. One name on everyone's lips: Steve McQueen.

The visionary director behind such renowned films as Twelve Years A Slave, The Small Axe series, Hunger and Widows. His latest feature, Occupied City; a documentary boasting the epic scale of films like Ben-Hur and Titanic, which chronicles the history of the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam, was released in Irish theatres on the 9th of February. As part of the promotional campaign, McQueen has made appearances at some of Europe and the United States' most prestigious film festivals. New York, the BFI, the IDFA, and, most recently, the DIFF – the Dublin International Film Festival.

And it was thanks to the UCD Creative Futures Academy's growing industry connections, and the tireless work of Dr Nicolas Pillai, academic lead for the UCD CFA, that brought the academy's award-winning director to campus.

Those who've frequented the underbelly of Newman these past few years couldn't help but notice the clouds of sawdust and sounds of hammers echoing from the gutted remnants of the old Dramsoc Theatre. And at last, like a magician drawing a curtain, it was revealed in all its Hollywood glitz and glory.

Velvet curtains rippling along the walls. Floor-to-ceiling cinema screen. Web of gantries suspended along the ceiling, hung with lights, and cameras, and all manner of devices that weave the spell of stage and screen. Not a seat left in the house, we waited; and watched as couches were wheeled out, and introductions made…

And then, in walked Steve McQueen.

Over the next hour, we lucky few were treated to a wide-ranging discussion that encompassed the director's filmmaking philosophy, anecdotes from over sixteen years in the film industry, reflections on research, and much, much more. Conducted by Dr Pillai and several hand-selected students from across the CFA's partner schools, the casual chat format and eloquent questions were the perfect theatres for a conversation that saw Steve McQueen paint an enthralling canvas of his experiences of the trials, triumphs, and nuances of creating works of art.

Over the next hour, we lucky few were treated to a wide-ranging discussion that encompassed the director's filmmaking philosophy, anecdotes from over sixteen years in the film industry, reflections on research, and much, much more.

And then, too quickly by half, the New Trap's Inaugural Event drew to a close, and Steve McQueen departed, leaving behind a palpable wave of inspiration in the minds of every audience member.