Martin Duffy (born 25 August 1952 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. Starting as a film-editor at

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in the late 1970s, he expanded into writing children's shows in the 1980s with the

Lambert Puppet Theatre The Lambert Puppet Theatre & Museum was a puppet theatre located in Monkstown, County Dublin, Ireland. It was a family-run business established in 1972 by Eugene Lambert, and hosted an international puppet festival annually. It produced children ...

, ''

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.'', '' Bosco'' 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 ''The Boy from Mercury'' (1996) is an Irish film, the debut of writer and director Martin Duffy. The film concerns the science-fiction daydreams of a young boy in 1960 Dublin. Upon release, the film received international critical acclaim, and ...

'', a film set in 1950s Dublin about a young boy whose life revolves around the escapism of Saturday afternoon

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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. He has since directed three feature films, continuing to work with young actors and creating family films, ''

The Bumblebee Flies Anyway ''The Bumblebee Flies Anyway'' is a 1999 drama film starring Elijah Wood and directed by Martin Duffy. It is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Cormier. The film premiered at the Deauville American Film Festival in September 1999 an ...

'', starring

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012). Woo ...

, '' The Testimony of Taliesin Jones'' 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, both by area and by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, as measured by population within city limits having gained this stat ...

Selected filmography

* '' Summer of the Flying Saucer'' (2008) * '' The Testimony of Taliesin Jones'' (2000) * ''

'' (1999) * ''

'' (1996)

Selected television work

* '' Bosco'' (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