[3] The IFT played the important role of bringing to Ireland notable developments in the art of cinema of which the public were otherwise deprived by lack of interest from mainstream Irish cinemas, or which had been or would have been banned, or significantly damaged by cuts by the Irish film censor at the time.

Established classic films were exhibited alongside new releases, allowing audiences the chance to view work from Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin and North America at a time when cinema programming in Ireland was usually confined to mainstream English language material from the United States and Britain.

[4] Films from the United States that were ignored by Irish commercial cinemas were also shown, such as Nashville by Robert Altman or Between the Lines by Joan Micklin Silver.

Foreign language and independent films that were radically forthright, and that would otherwise have been cut or banned by the Irish censor, were shown in their complete forms, including Pasolini's Salò, Oshima's Ai No Corrida, Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris, and many other films whose portrayals of nudity and sexuality would have triggered bans or cuts in Ireland at that time.

The theatre in Earlsfort Terrace reopened in 1999 as a multi-purpose arts-and-entertainment venue and bar called The Sugar Club, with the entrance moved around the corner to Leeson Street.