Research Guides: Irish Studies: Literature, Film and Theatre: Film: Finding Articles and Film Reviews

Irish Films

The Avery Fisher Center for Music and Media (AFC) is located on the 7th floor of Bobst Library. Our collections consist of more than 36,000 videos (including U.S. and foreign cinema, drama and music performances, documentaries, art films, and more) and more than 87,000 audio recordings (including music from the broadest spectrum of classical, traditional, and popular artists, genres, and cultures).

Here is a list of some of the Irish related films in the AFC:

The Guard by Written and Directed by John Michael McDonagh
Sergeant Gerry Boyle is a small-town Irish cop with a confrontational personality, a subversive sense of humor, a dying mother, a fondness for prostitutes, and absolutely no interest whatsoever in the international cocaine-smuggling ring that has brought straight-laced FBI agent Wendell Everett to his door.
The Magdalene sisters by Directed by Peter Mullan
Award-winning drama about ‘fallen’ teenage girls who are sent by their families to Magdalene Asylums (or ‘Laundries’), where they live in homes maintained by the Roman Catholic church.
The Quiet Man by Directed by John Ford
An American prizefighter returns to Ireland in order to forget the past and live peacefully in his village birthplace. He falls in love with the hot-tempered sister of a belligerent neighbor, and trouble ensues over the payment of her dowry.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley by Directed by Rebecca O'Brien
Driven by a deep sense of duty and a love for his country, Damien abandons his burgeoning career as a doctor and joins his brother, Teddy in a dangerous and violent fight for freedom in Ireland in 1920. As the Irish freedom fighters' bold tactics bring the British to a breaking point, both sides finally agree to a treaty to end the bloodshed. But, despite the apparent victory, civil war erupts and families who fought side by side find themselves pitted against one another, putting their loyalties to the ultimate test.
The Field by Directed by Jim Sheridan
The field is a plot of land in rural Ireland, rented and tended by an old man. When the owner sells the land to an American developer, the old man decides to fight the change, regardless of the cost.
Waking Ned Devine by Directed by Kirk Jones
When Ned Devine dies from shock after winning the lottery, two longtime friends, Michael and Jackie, discover the body and agree Ned would want them to benefit from his good luck. They embark upon an outrageous scheme to claim the ticket -- but first they have to get all the townsfolk to go along with their plan.
In the Name of the Father by Directed by Jim Sheridan
Fact-based film about Gerry Conlon, the young Irish punk who is caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and forced to confess to a terrorist bombing. He and his father, along with friends of Gerry, are found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. There, his father shows his true strength, and Gerry works to prove their innocence and clear his father's name.
The Commitments by Directed by Alan Parker
Fueled by raw talent and driven by dreams of glory, a dozen dead-enders from Dublin's gritty North Side share a passion for soul music that takes their band on a wild rollercoaster ride from the streets to superstardom!
The Crying Game by Directed by Neil Jordan
A haunting, humorous and shocking romantic thriller about Irish terrorists, their hostage and the hostage's exotic girlfriend.
'71 by Directed by Yann Demange
A British soldier is caught behind enemy lines in Belfast 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, and increasingly wary of his own comrades, he must survive the night alone and find his way to safety through a disorienting, alien, and deadly landscape.

General databases

General databases contain content from a variety of subject areas and publication types. This will allow you to look at your research from a wide perspective. Be sure to use the search refinements each database may offer including:

date,
document type, and
source type

ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Central is a large, multidisciplinary database with over 11,000 titles, with over 8,000 titles in full-text. It serves as the central resource for researchers at all levels in all markets. Over 160 subjects areas are covered extensively in this product including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences and more.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Online collection of dictionaries, encyclopedias, biographical sources, quotations, bilingual dictionaries, and measurement conversions covering topics from the arts to the sciences.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR provides access to scholarly journals, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. In addition to journal articles, users can access book chapters, ebooks, and primary source documents.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to high quality humanities, arts, and social sciences journals from scholarly publishers.
Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window
Dissertations and Theses Global contains indexes, dissertations and some theses. Full-text is available for many dissertations and theses, including those from NYU.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar is a central search for scholarly literature. It covers disciplines and sources, peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.
Gale in Context: Biography This link opens in a new window
Online biographical reference database in the fields of literature, science, business, entertainment, politics, sports, history, current events and the arts.Biographical information on over one million people throughout history, around the world.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to dictionaries, language reference, Islamic studies and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.

Finding Articles and Film Reviews

Below you will find links to some of the key film databases as well as news and newspaper databases. Many individual databases will allow you to limit your search to specific document types (i.e. reviews), so be sure to take advantage of this feature to refine your searches.

America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Indexes literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. The database indexes 1,700 journals and also includes citations and links to book and media reviews. Strong English-language journal coverage is balanced by an international perspective on topics and events, including abstracts in English of articles published in more than 40 languages. Publication dates of coverage: 1964 to present.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
The Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive offers digitized primary sources for studying the history of the film, music, theater, and broadcast industries from 1880 to the near present. Magazines include American Cinematographer, Back Stage, Billboard, Broadcasting, Hollywood Reporter, Mix, Musical Express, Radio and Records, Reggae & African Beat, Spin, Stage, Variety, and Writers Guild of America.
FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
A bibliographical resource offering coverage of hundreds of the world's foremost academic and popular film journals right up to the present day. Many of these key titles are available here in full text including complete runs.
Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive index covering the entire spectrum of television and film writing and produced for a broad target audience, from film scholars to general viewers. Subject coverage includes: film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews.
Film Index International This link opens in a new window
Film Index International is a major information resource for entertainment films and personalities produced in collaboration with the British Film Institute. With a scholarly, inclusive approach to all areas of film studies - from the very first silent movies, to art house classics or the latest blockbusters - Film Index International provides truly international coverage, indexing films from over 170 countries.

Film Literature Index
Indexes 150 film and television periodicals from 30 countries cover-to-cover and 200 other periodicals selectively for articles on film and television. The periodicals range from the scholarly to the popular. Contains approximately 700,000 citations to articles, film reviews and book reviews published between 1976-2001.

Historical Abstracts with Full Text (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more. Indexes more than 1,700 academic historical journals in over 40 languages. Publication dates of coverage: 1955 to present.
Historical Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Search the PDF full text and image archives of more than 100 major U.S. and African American newspapers.

Highlights include: Atlanta Constitution (1868-1945), Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003), Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988), Chicago Tribune (1849-1986), Christian Science Monitor (1908-2004), Los Angeles Times (1881-1995), New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993), Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002), The Chicago Defender (1910 - 1975), The New York Times (1851-2014), The New York Tribune (1841-1922), The New York Tribune (1900-1910), San Francisco Chronicle (1869-1922), The Wall Street Journal (1889-2000), The Washington Post (1877-2001), St. Petersburg Times / Tampa Bay Times (1901-2009), Korea Times (1956-2016)

Irish Times (1859-2007) and the Weekly Irish Times (1876-1958)
This full text resource offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue of both the Irish Times (1859-2007) and the Weekly Irish Times (1876-1958). The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR provides access to scholarly journals, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. In addition to journal articles, users can access book chapters, ebooks, and primary source documents.
MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
The MLA International Bibliography provides bibliographic records for books, book chapters, journal articles, and dissertations published in the fields of modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics. Full text is available for some articles. The MLAIB covers items published from around 1920 to the present.

Nation Digital Archive, The
Established July 6, 1865, The Nation offers a 135-year archive of reporting opinion and criticism. It is an immensely important clearinghouse of primary source material covering the history of politics, culture, books and the arts - in America and around the world. The Nation Digital Archive is a fully searchable electronic version of the magazine's complete backfile. NOTE: There is a 1-month embargo on full-text.

New York Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window
Access NewspaperARCHIVE contains tens of millions of searchable newspaper pages, dating as far back as the 1700s.
New York Times, 1980-present (via ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Full-text coverage of the New York Times, 1980 to present.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni (Formerly LexisNexis Academic Universe) provides access to full-text newspapers (U.S. and some international), news wires, transcripts, and trade journals.
Please clear your browser's cache and cookies before attempting to access this resource.
Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
Performing Arts Periodicals Database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 210 international journals in the performing arts dating from 1864 to the near present.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to high quality humanities, arts, and social sciences journals from scholarly publishers.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Central is a large, multidisciplinary database with over 11,000 titles, with over 8,000 titles in full-text. It serves as the central resource for researchers at all levels in all markets. Over 160 subjects areas are covered extensively in this product including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences and more.
Readers' Guide Full Text Mega This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing and abstracting of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and Canada, plus the full text of selected periodicals. Dates of coverage: 1983 to present.
Readers' Guide Retrospective (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America.Dates of coverage: 1890-1982. Use the Readers' Guide Full Text for 1983 forward.