Eclectic Mix of Award-Winning Irish Docs to Screen at Guth Gafa This Weekend
Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) is delighted to be an industry partner once again with the Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival working together on a number of industry events and screening an exciting range of award-winning Irish documentaries.
The festival which takes place in Gortahork, Co Donegal this weekend (12th- 14th June) will have a special focus on environmental justice and climate adaptation issues and will address the important environmental, social and human rights issues in Ireland and abroad with screenings, discussions, theatre and music performances.
Included in the festival line-up are Irish documentaries Dreaming The Quiet Man, Men of Arlington, Off The Beaten Track and The Pipe which will all screen along with a special programme of Irish shorts.
Sé Merry Doyle's feature documentary DREAMING THE QUIET MAN, produced by Loopline Films will screen on Sunday 12th. The film received its international premiere at MoMA in New York last month as part of a special programme called The Quiet Man: Ireland on Film. Narrated by Gabriel Byrne the documentary features an exclusive interview with Maureen O' Hara who gives a powerful insight into the director John Ford and her co-star John Wayne and tells how the film was a "love letter to Ireland".
Enda Hughes' MEN OF ARLINGTON, produced by Hotshot Films will screen on Monday 13th.
It documents the lives of residents of London's Arlington House which housed thousands of Irishmen who fled Ireland in the 1950's in search of work. The film picked up Best Irish Documentary at the Dublin Film Critics Circle awards earlier this year.
Directed by Dieter Auner and produced by Ikandi Productions OFF THE BEATEN TRACK, is a
beautifully observed, powerful but gentle documentary about the changing world of shepherds in Transylvania. The film which has been officially selected for the Edinburgh International Film Festival follows Albin, a teenage shepherd from a remote village in Northern Transylvania, over the course of a year as he makes his way through the ever-changing
environment where traditions and the slow pace of the shepherds' routine are gradually being replaced by modern values. It will screen twice over the festival on Friday 10th and Monday 13th.
The IFTA winning documentary THE PIPE directed by Risteard Ó Domhnaill will screen on Monday 13th. It's another chance for audiences to see the compelling story of Rossport's struggle against the economic might of Shell and the tragic divisions that have split a once peaceful and close knit community. The passionate, brave and beautifully shot documentary, produced by Rachel Lysaght for Scannáin Inbhear, is no stranger to festival success having already received an Honourable Mention from the IDFA Green Screen Jury and official selections for the Berlin, London, Toronto and Palm Springs International film festivals.
Along with a selection of feature length documentaries a retrospective of Framework short animations will screen on Saturday afternoon. The programme includes The Rooster, The Crocodile and The Night Sky, Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, Give Up Yer Aul Sins, Cúilín Dualach and The Crumblegiant.
Located in the beautiful and remote Donegal, Guth Gafa aims to promote the use of Irish in the documentary film industry by developing a festival that operates through Irish and that is Gaeltacht based; to attract internationally renowned film directors to Ireland and to introduce them to a national and local audience.
The 6th Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival takes place this weekend in Gortahork, Co. Donegal from 11th- 13th June.
See the official website http://www.guthgafa.com/ for further information on the full programme of screenings and events.