Full Programme of Guth Gafa Films Now Available Online
Guth Gafa is proud to announce the programme for their 7th International Documentary Festival, which includes some of the top documentaries in the world. In the line up are 17 international feature documentaries from 14 different countries, many of which have won the top awards around the world, seven Irish feature docs and a selection of outstanding Irish shorts. A total of 27 filmmakers are so far confirmed to attend and present their films at Guth Gafa which will be held for the first time in the village of Malin in the Inishowen peninsula of Donegal between the 16th and 19th May.
The 2013 Guth Gafa continues its commitment to human rights driven films with a programme that shines the spotlight on some of the most pressing issues of our time. Films about human fragility, musical genius, and isolated communities fighting for survival, feature strongly in the programme.
Included in this year's bill are a number of films that have proven to be the best recent examples of international documentary film making, and have won accolades in top international festivals and award ceremonies world-wide:
Emmy award-winning director, Alan Berliner's First Cousin Once Removed, winner of the Best Feature Documentary competition at IDFA, the largest and most prestigious documentary festival in the world, More Than Honey, by Markus Imhoof, winner of both Swiss and German Film Prizes for Best Documentary 2013, Blood Brother, winner of both Grand Jury prize for Documentary and an Audience Award at Sundance 2013, Winter Nomads, winner of the European Film Award for 2012, A river Changes Course, winner of World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2013, Matthews Law, winner of the Grand Prix for Best Feature Documentary at Visions du Reel, and Searching for Sugarman, winner of the Oscar for Best documentary at this year's Academy Awards.
A selection of films will also be screening in Derry, as part of our partnership with Derry-Londonderry City of Culture 2013.
Audiences will be taken to locations as varied as Switzerland, Israel, Azerbaijan, Africa, India and Cambodia to discover stories as wildly contrasting as a young man's escape from the brutality of a North Korean labour camp in Camp 14: Total Control Zone, and a teenager's 'escape' from the boredom and isolation of a remote village in the Arctic Circle in Village At The End of The World. Attending to discuss his film, will be Marc Weisewhich is supported by the Goethe Insitut
In the remarkable Wrong Time Wrong Place, John Appel examines the role played by coincidence and fate in the 2011 terrorist attack on Oslo and Utoya in which 77 lives were lost, by speaking to survivors.
The charming Winter Nomads tracks shepherds, Carole and Pascal as they embark on a 6,000 kilometre trek through Switzerland with a flock of sheep in a winter grazing ritual as old as time.
The Summit by Irish film maker, Nick Ryan focuses on the world's most dangerous mountain, K2 and the 2008 tragedy which claimed the lives of 11 climbers including heroic Irish mountaineer, Ger McDonnell.
The Finnish film, Soundbreaker profiles Finland's most vibrant and daring composer and accordionist, Kimmo Pohjonen as he breaks all the rules and shatters everything you know about the accordion. The remarkable Pohjonen, who has composed and toured with the Kronos Quartet and other famous musical names, comes to Ireland for the first time to play a live gig at the Foyle Theatre in Derry, after the screening of the film on his life. This is a gig you will not want to miss.
Among the selection of short films screening will be the world premiere of the TG4-funded film, Ponydance, by Derek O'Connor, about the Belfast-based dance troupe of the same name.
With almost all the directors in attendance this year, Guth Gafa continues to provide a forum for films have always provoked heated discussion, and the festival has become known as a place for young and experienced filmmakers to meet with their audience to discuss their work in extended Q & As that usually continue into the pubs and cafés.
This year's programme of films promises to continue that tradition.
See the Guth Gafa website for the full list of films
Guth Gafa is supported by The Irish Film Board, The Arts Council of Ireland, Derry-Londonderry City of Culture, Inishowen Partnership, BAI, Failte Ireland, LEADER, Donegal County Council, Goethe Institut and Associated Newspapers