Irish and Global Films Screening at the Dingle International Film Festival this Weekend
The Dingle International Film Festival kicks off today (March 12) with the Academy Award®-nominated Song of the Sea amongst the lineup of Irish and international feature films and shorts screening over the weekend.
The festival will launch with an industry preview of the Academy Award®-nominated feature Song of the Sea from Kilkenny-based animation studio Cartoon Saloon. Directed by Tomm Moore, Song of the Sea tells the story of Ben and his little sister Saoirse - the last Seal-child - who embark on a fantastic journey across a fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to their home by the sea. The film takes inspiration from the mythological Selkies of Irish folklore, who live as seals in the sea but become humans on land.
Also screening is Neasa Ní Chaináin’s documentary The Stranger at the Phoenix Cinema. The documentary examines an English artist who died alone, aged 44, in a stone shed, where he lived without water, electricity or heating on a remote Irish island, leaving behind volumes of secret diaries. the Gaelic-speaking islanders on the rapidly depopulating island knew little of Neal during the 8 years he lived there. Who was the stranger? A film about memory and perception, an unusual portrait of man, living on the edge, physically and mentally, and the island community he lived amongst.
A selection of IFB-funded shorts will also screen at the festival. As part of the Irish language programme, Medb Johnstone’s Rince will screen, in addition to a selection of IFB-funded short films will screen in St. James’s Church on Sunday: Bloody Good Headline, Sophie at the Races, Ceád Ghrá, Rockmount, Personal Development and Seventh Son.
The full lineup of screenings and events at the Dingle International Film Festival can be seen on their website here.
Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) is an industry partner of the Dingle International Film Festival.