Save our films! On October 16th the Irish Film Institute will launch a fund-raising drive to help to help build a new facility at NUI Maynooth for the Irish Film Archive. The premises in Eustace Street will remain the prime site, but those storage facilities are currently groaning with valuable and historic reels of film.

It has been quite a high- profile year for the body, with major exhibitions at various New York sites: MoMA, Lincoln Center and New York Public Library. DVD releases have included the popular GAA Gold package and a collection of movies from the O'Kalem collection.

Free screenings of precious material continue as part of the Archive at Lunchtime event. A campaign is also afoot to get hold of a high-quality print of that immovable figurehead of Irish cinema, The Quiet Man.

The organisers of the Archive fundraiser have persuaded Saoirse Ronan to participate in a promotional video that will slot the star into footage from the vaults. She will be seen fighting in the War of Independence, watching JFK during his homecoming trip, and flitting through various delicious home movies. The film was created, with a limited budget, by the musician and film-maker Nick Kelly.

For more on this vital resource go to irishfilm.ie/ archive.