Molly is well-known and highly regarded for her films about London Zoo, the House of Lords and intimate portraits of Geri Halliwell and Tony Blair, which she achieved by interviewing them in a conversational style.

Trained at the London College of Communication and the National Film and Television School, Molly has directed ten films on a broad range of contemporary subjects, often focusing on changing institutions. She found early success with her documentary, Home from the Hill (1985), a documentary about retired soldier and safari operator, Colonel Hook. Subsequent works include The Ark (1993), a series of four films about London Zoo in crisis, which won a BAFTA Award for Best Series, and The Lord’s Tale (2002), on the reform of the House of Lords. In 2003 Molly won The Grierson Memorial Trust Trustees’ Award for her outstanding contribution to the art of documentary.

“Molly is a fantastic filmmaker and it was exciting for her to have such a varied audience, which led to a fascinating discussion,” commented Miranda Adams of Cornwall Media Focus, who co-hosted the event. “This was a great opportunity for both Cornwall Media Focus and The Cornwall Skillset Media Academy at University College Falmouth to host an event together, which I hope we can repeat in the near future.”

In The Lie of the Land, Molly explores the shocking and harsh realities of life as a British farmer today. The film examines our contradictory relationship with nature; the harsh realities of its cycles of life and death; and the consequences of our desire for increasingly cheap food - a controversial subject which resonates with the Cornish community.

Following the screening, Molly took questions from an audience made up of staff, students and Cornish filmmakers, as well as members of the Cornwall farming community, including some of those featured in the film. “I only ever make one film: about institutions changing,” commented Molly. “My films seem old-fashioned, but they have a sly way of penetrating traditional British life. I become very involved with the contributors during filming, which renders the process of making films very draining for me. The result I am looking for, however, cannot be achieved any other way to make it rewarding for the audience,” she concluded.

“We are delighted to welcome speakers of the calibre of Molly Dineen to Falmouth” said Paul Inman, Director of Media. He continued, “It was a great opportunity for students, staff and the local community to hear and meet such an iconic figure from the world of filmmaking and someone who is so revered throughout the industry”.

University College Falmouth became part of the UK’s prestigious Skillset Media Academy Academy Network in December 2007. This innovative national network was launched by Culture Minister, James Purnell and Skills Minister, David Lammy, together with leading figures from the media and academia on behalf of Skillset - the UK Sector Skills Council for the Audio Visual Industries - to create a centre of excellence through close collaboration between education and business, building on strong partnerships the College already has with broadcasters, training organisations and media production companies. The Network is made up of 17 Academies, drawing together creative education partnerships from 43 colleges and universities across the UK.

University College Falmouth is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education. The CUC is funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council.

For further information about Media courses at University College Falmouth, please visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/media or e-mail admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or contact admissions on 01326 213730.