IFB Funded Docs to Screen at Stranger Than Fiction Festival
Four IFB funded documentaries will screen at this years Stranger Than Fiction documentary film festival which takes place 25th - 28th September.GABRIEL BYRNE - STORIES FROM HOME, ABOUT BEAUTY, CHIPPERS and WAITING FOR THE LIGHT will screen at the festival which is partially funded by Bord Scannan na hEireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB). Along with these screenings, Stranger Than Fiction in association with the IFB has put in place a training workshop and pitching events.
Conor Horgan's ABOUT BEAUTY uses extensive interviews to give an insight into one of Ireland's most eminent artists, Dorothy Cross, who has permanent collections in the Tate Modern, IMMA and Hugh Lane Gallery. It is a visually based exploration and appreciation of her work, revealing many of the highlights of her career to date. The story follows her as she embarks on a new sea-based project in New Ireland, a wild and remote island off Papua New Guiney. ABOUT BEAUTY will screen on Friday 26th September at 14.30.
The Irish premiere of the award winning documentary CHIPPERS will be attended by the director Nino Tropiano. The film tells the story of Dublin's well-established community of four thousand Italians who have owned chip shops in the city since the 1900's. This nostalgic, melancholic portrait of the early struggle and integration of this unique community will screen on Saturday 27th September at 12.00.
This will be followed by a special IFTA screening of GABRIEL BYRNE - STORIES FROM HOME, directed by Pat Collins at 15.15. Pat Collins will introduce the documentary which is a revealing insight into the life and creative impulse of one of Ireland's foremost actors. The film will observe Byrne in New York City, in his home in Brooklyn, in Dublin, the city of his birth, and in behind-the -scenes footage on the set of the HBO series In Treatment which was shot in LA. Intimate interviews and extracts from his journals and diaries has created an evocative and insightful film that will have universal appeal.
The world premiere of Ciarin Scotts's WAITING FOR THE LIGHT is a compelling biography of the pioneer and innovator of Irish cinema George Morrison. Of Morrison's 42 films, Mise Eire and Saorise are internationally acclaimed and seminal masterpieces, defining Ireland's modern history. WAITING FOR THE LIGHT shows Morrison talking frankly about his life, loves, work and passions, interwoven with unseen stills and films from his extensive private collection and footage of him at work on Dublin Day - his first production in 30 years which screened at Stranger than Fiction last year. Both Ciarin Scott and George Morrison will attend this screening at 17.00 on Saturday 27th September which will be followed by a post show Q&A session.
Of the 25 feature documentaries screening at the festival, 14 are Irish productions including films directed by Alan Gilsenan, Gerry Nelson and Mike Grodner.
The Stranger Than Fiction Pitch Perfect training and pitching sessions consist of an intensive training workshop with documentary expert Tue Steen Muller followed by two pitching events: one geared towards television documentary pitching, the other geared to feature length theatrical documentary pitching.
The participants of the workshop will get a chance to put the newly acquired pitching skills into practice in front of two expert panels made up of key players in the industry including Nick Fraser (Storyville), Andrew Herwitz (The Film Sales Company) and Dana O'Keefe (Cinetic Media).
The Stranger than Fiction Documentary Film Festival will take place Thursday 25th September to Sunday 28th September in the Irish Film Institute, Temple Bar, Dublin.
See the Stranger Than Fiction website for more information