Variety names talented Irish director Paul Duane as one of “This Year’s 10 Directors to Watch“

A massive congratulations to Irish director Paul Duane who has just been named by Variety, one of the world’s most iconic entertainment trade magazines, as one of “This Year’s 10 Directors to Watch.“

We’re presuming that they mean “one to watch” in a good way, and not in a “he may be up to no good so we better inform the authorities because he’s certainly one to watch” kind of way. Either way, it’s both excellent and deserved news for an Irish storyteller who started directing in the late 1980s, was involved in JOE favourites Ballykissangel and Footballers’ Wives, and later went on to direct a number of critically-acclaimed documentaries including Natan and Very Extremely Dangerous.

The filmmaker, who joins an elite group of directors including past honourees Ben Affleck (Argo), George Clooney (The Ides of March) and Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises), took to Twitter yesterday to pithily announce the great news:

After 25 years in the biz, it seems I'm an overnight success... http://t.co/cVwqY9khBt — Paul Duane (@MrPaulDuane) December 2, 2013

Here at JOE we recently reviewed the director’s fascinating documentary about wino turned writer, John Healy, an excellent insight into the life of a “smiling psychopath.” You can read the full review by clicking here and, yes, it is (probably) entirely coincidental that the article concludes with the line “Hollywood take note.” Unless someone at Variety has recently been reading JOE.ie of course... The ten chosen directors, which includes six men and five women (one pair is included), are to be honoured at Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 5th, along with Saving Mr Banks director John Lee Hancock and everyone's favourite Seth Rogen mixy-up-look-alike, Jonah Hill. If you ever need a plus one for any of your fancy LA parties  Paul, feel free to give us a shout. JOE’s got the perfect little black number, ready and waiting...

Here is the list of ten directors in full, described by Palm Springs International Film Festival executive director Darryl Macdonald as “10 striking new talents with exceptional storytelling gifts.” Amma Asante (Belle) Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant) Anthony Chen (Ilo Ilo) Paul Duane (Very Extremely Dangerous. Natan) Ben Falcone (Tammy) Maya Forbes (Infinitely Polar Bear) Aron Gaudet & Gita Pullapilly (Beneath the Harvest Sky) Dome Karukoski (Heart of a Lion) Justin Simien (Dear White People) Gren Wells (The Road Within) Tip of the hat to you Mr Duane...