Irish and International Premieres for Irish Film at this Year’s Galway Film Fleadh
The programme for the 2015 Galway Film Fleadh was unveiled yesterday evening, with a wide selection of Irish feature films and shorts funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board enjoying their Irish and international premieres at the festival.
Opening the Fleadh is the previously-announced My Name is Emily directed by Simon Fitzmaurice. His eagerly-awaited feature debut stars Harry Potter actress Evanna Lynch as Emily, who embarks on a road trip adventure across Ireland to find her missing father. The film will premiere on Tuesday, July 7th at the Town Hall Theatre.
Wednesday July 8th sees the Irish premiere of Strangerland. Directed by Kim Farrant, the Australian-Irish co-production stars Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes as parents whose relationship is pushed to the brink when their two teenage children disappear into the remote Australian desert. Also starring Hugo Weaving, Strangerland was directed by Kim Farrant and was written by Michael Kinirons and Fiona Seres. It had its world premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
Documentary A Doctor's Sword makes its debut on July 9th. It tells of Aidan MacCarthy, a young doctor from West Cork who survived some of the most harrowing episodes of World War II and his family's search to uncover the origin of the Japanese Samurai Sword which now resides in their family bar MacCarthys in West Cork. The film was directed by Gary Lennon.
Shem the Penman Sings Again receives its world premiere on July 9th and is an imagined archive of the actual and much fabled friendship between James Joyce and tenor John McCormack. The Cork-filmed feature is directed by Padraig Trehy and was written by Trehy and Peter McCarthy.
Lost in the Living, screening on July 9th, follows a young man, Oisín (Tadhg Murphy), a musician from Dublin, who travels to Berlin with his band. Buzzing with the potential for adventure, he leaves behind the weight of losing his mother and an anger towards his absent father. Oisín meets Sabine (Aylin Tezel), a pretty young Berliner, who shows him the secret places that belong to the people who live in the city. Lost in the Living was written and directed by Robert Manson.
The Irish premiere of the Academy Award®-nominated animated feature Song of the Sea takes place on July 9th. Directed by Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells), 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. Song of the Sea features the voices of Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, David Rawle, Lisa Hannigan, Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny, with music by composer Bruno Coulais and Irish band Kíla.
Older Than Ireland, which debuts on July 10th, is a landmark feature documentary that explores what it means to have lived one hundred years in Ireland, as seen through the eyes of its oldest citizens. Featuring thirty men and women, this remarkable group of centenarians, all born before 1916, are the last generation to have borne witness to Ireland's bloody transition from a newly formed fledging republic through to its development into a mature European state. Older Than Ireland was directed by Alex Fegan (The Irish Pub).
The premiere of Pursuit takes place on July 10th. Directed by Paul Mercier, Pursuit is a modern take on the legend of Diarmuid and Gráinne and makes for a contemporary myth about the pursuit of power, class, love and the chance to start again. The ensemble cast includes Ruth Bradley, Liam Cunningham, Brendan Gleeson, Owen Roe, David Pearse and Barry Ward.
Luic Jordan's A Turning Tide in the Life of Man screens on Saturday, July 11th. Filmed over eight years, A Turning Tide in the Life of Man follows John O'Brien, a small fisherman from the island of Inis Bó Finne who embarked on a European campaign to try and regain his ancestral right to fish the seas around Donegal.
You're Ugly Too receives its Irish premiere on July 11th.The film stars Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones) as Will, who is released from prison on compassionate leave to care for his niece Stacey (Lauran Kinsella; Albert Nobbs), after the death of her mother. You're Ugly Too received its world premiere in February in Official Selection at the Berlinale Festival.
Traders premieres on July 11th and asks the question - what if it made sense for ordinary people to kill each other for money? Traders is a thriller about recession-hit Ireland and the extreme, brutal lengths people will go to hang on to wealth and status. Written and directed by Rachel Moriarty and Peter Murphy, Traders stars Killian Scott, Peter O'Meara and John Bradley.
Moscow Never Sleeps, which premieres on July 11th, is a contemporary multi-narrative feature film that dives headlong into the volatile intersections of Russia's capital and the intimate lives of five people. Irish director Johnny O'Reilly delivers a visual love poem to his adopted city and the interweaving lives of its denizens.
The festival's closing film, Irish-language feature An Klondike, tells the story of the Connollys — three Irish brothers who journey from the silver mines of Montana to the Klondike Valley in the hope of striking it rich. They seek their fortune in Dominion Creek, a town built on greed, where the Connollys become embroiled in a deadly feud with Jacob Hopkins, the man who runs Dominion. When Séamus Connolly shoots Jacob’s son in a duel, Jacob vows revenge. Directed by Dathaí Keane, An Klondike received development funding from the IFB.
In addition to a number of programmes of Irish shorts throughout the Fleadh, July 11th will see a number of IFB-funded shorts premiering. These are: Blight directed by Brian Deane; City of Roses directed by Andrew Kavanagh; Filleadh an Athair from Tomasz Woszczynski; Tom Caulfield's Unhinged; January Hymn by Katherine Canty; The Great Fall from Gary O'Neill; Seán Breathnach's Maidhm; Geist directed by Sean Mullen, Ben Harper and Alex Sherwood; A Coat Worth Stealing from Jack O'Shea; Damien O'Donnell's How Was Your Day?; and They Shoot People directed by Mark Noonan.
Tickets are on sale now for the Galway Film Fleadh. For the full list of Irish and international features premiering at this year's Galway Film Fleadh, see their website here.