Solstice, Galway Film Fleadh’s winter season of earlier works of Irish cinema, has added the 2007 feature film Kings to its line-up.
Written and directed by Tom Collins, and based on the play The Kings of the Kilburn High Road by Jimmy Murphy, Kings was the first Irish language feature film to be put forward by the Irish Film & Television Academy as Ireland’s submission for Oscar® consideration.
“Our archive programme Solstice has been a massive hit with the Irish diaspora in all corners of the world, and as such, we decided to add another feature which speaks directly to their experiences,” said Fleadh Programme Director William Fitzgerald.
“Among the many Irish films with motifs of emigration, trans-national identities, and memory, Kings fits nicely with the idea behind Solstice, particularly around reacquainting audiences with Irish language cinema.”
In the mid 1970s, a group of six young men left their homes in the West of Ireland, took the boat out of Dublin Bay and sailed across the sea to England in the hope of making their fortunes and returning home. Thirty years later, only Jackie Flavin makes it home – in a coffin. Jackie's five friends reunite at his wake, where they are forced to face up to the reality of their alienation.
The Film Fleadh’s Solstice programme features 10 other Irish films drawn from the period between the late 70’s and early 2000’s. They include:
- Poitín (1978) directed by Bob Quinn
- Anne Devlin (1984) directed by Pat Murphy
- Atlantean (1984) directed by Bob Quinn
- Reefer and the Model (1988) directed by Joe Comerford
- Hush-a-Bye-Baby (1990) directed by Margo Harkin
- Korea (1995) directed by Cathal Black
- The Fifth Province (1997) directed by Frank Stapleton
- The Gamble (1998) directed by Paddy O’ Connor
- Country (2000) directed by Kevin Liddy
- Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey (2011) directed by Lelia Doolan
Solstice was curated to reflect on the roots of Irish storytelling on screen, before many of the great strides taken by the Irish screen industry in the 21st century. Streaming worldwide, all films are available to rent until January 21st, on GalwayFilmFleadh.com and on the Galway Film Fleadh app.