Unveiling their full programme of events and screenings, the 19th Galway Film Fleadh (10 – 15 July) has announced Cristiano Bortone’s Italian feature ‘Red Like the Sky’ will open the prestigious festival. The 2007 programme offers world premieres, classic movies, Irish and international documentaries, features and shorts.
From the International category, ‘Red Like the Sky’, is set in Tuscany, Italy in 1971. Inspired by the true story of Italian sound editor Mirco Mencacci, the film follows a blind child as he fights against everything and everyone to achieve his dreams. ‘Seraphim Falls’, a psychological thriller set in the Wild West starring Irish actors Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson will bring the Fleadh to a close an the 15th of July.
Highlights also include the UK feature ‘And When Did You Last See Your Father’, starring Colin Firth and Jim Broadbent, a film described as an exploration of the emotional ties that bind father and son. ‘House of Sand’ tells the story of a woman who along with her mother is taken in 1910 to a far away desert by her husband. When he dies, they are forced to spend the next 59 years of their lives hopelessly trying to escape from their arid surroundings. Angelina Jolie gives what the festival describes as “a career best” in Michael Winterbottom’s ‘A Mighty Heart’. Jolie plays real-life journalist Marianne Pearl, whose husband was kidnapped by terrorists while they were in Pakistan.
Others features to note include: ‘Exit’, ‘How is Your Fish Today’, ‘A Thousand Kisses’, ‘Interview’, ‘The Paper Will be Blue’, ‘Black Sheep’, ‘Ghosts, My Son and The Singer’.
The Fleadh continues its support of Irish cinema, this year showcasing a wide range of Irish talent. ‘Garage’ comes straight to Galway following its premiere in the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. The film is a tragic comedy starring Pat Shortt set in the world of petrol stations. ‘Puffball’, a supernatural thriller from legendary filmmaker Nic Roeg, is the story of the powerful forces unleashed through one chance event and seen through the eyes of four generations of women.
Staring Colm Meaney, ‘Kings’, directed by Tom Collins, follows a group of Irish speaking men from Connemara who emigrated from Ireland to London in the late seventies but who never made it home. ‘Tonight is Cancelled’, directed by Brendan Grant, is set in Post War Kosovo where a young woman struggles to get life to live up to her expectations. Marian Quinn’s debut feature ‘32A’ will also screen, the film follows the story of the confusing “in between” time of a girls life when she is no longer a child but she is not yet a woman.
Wild Cards, a new category this year, will screen a selection of films from emerging filmmakers who have sought to make films outside of traditional funding sources in Ireland. Bob Quinn’s seminal drama ‘Poitin’ will be screened in celebration of its 30th anniversary, and features a digitally restored print and a new score by Bill Whelan.
The Fleadh boasts a strong documentary line-up this year. ‘God Grew Tired of Us’, narrated by Nicole Kidman, explores the indomitable spirit of three “Lost Boys” from Sudan who leave their homeland, triumph over insurmountable adversities and move to America. ‘The War Tapes’ is the first war movie to be filmed by soldiers on the front line in Iraq. Other documentaries to note are ‘Manufacturing Dissent’, ‘The Future is Unwritten’, ‘Music Inn’, ‘The Cats of Mirikani’, ‘My Kid Could Paint That’ and ‘I’m a Sex Addict’.
2007 IFTA winning Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan is the subject of this year’s Irish tribute and will be “In Conversation” with Lelia Doolan on Saturday 14th July – this event has been organised in association with the Irish Film and Television Academy.
The Fleadh will also honour the accomplishments of actor Jeremy Irons (Lolita, Dead Ringers), who will host an Acting Masterclass on Sunday 15th July. Terry George, one of Ireland’s most successful screenwriters whose works include ‘Hotel Rwanda’ and ‘In the Name of the Father’ will be the subject of the 2007 Screenwriters Tribute, while Volker Schloendorff (‘Strike’, ‘The Tin Drum’, ‘Swann in Love’) is the focus of the Fleadh’s Director Tribute.
Another strand in the festival, ‘Out on Film’, will screen a selection of gay, lesbian and transgender films which will raise issues of contemporary relevance such as gay and lesbian parenthood and gay marriage as well as re-addressing classical themes such as coming-of- age/coming out, gender identity.
This year’s focus country is Poland and the festival will screen classic and contemporary films directed by renowned Polish directors such as Kieslowski, Polanski, Wadja and Fabicki.
The Galway Film Fleadh has a long tradition of hosting thought provoking debates and this year in association with MOJO (Miscarriages of Justice Organisation) will host a debate entitled ‘Is there Life after Life?’ The debate, to take place on Wednesday July 11th in the Town Hall Main, will discuss the problems faced by the unjustly convicted upon release after serving life sentences and will include world renowned Paddy Hill (Birmingham Six), Gerry Conlon (Guildford Four) and Sunny Jacobs, all who were wrongfully convicted of crimes they didn’t commit.
The shorts programme will screen over 70 Irish shorts, all competing for the awards of Best Irish Short, Best First Irish Short, Best Short Documentary and Best Short Animation. Filmmakers will also compete for the Stella Artois Pitching Award.
Tickets for all events can be bought from the Galway Film Fleadh Box Office
(Tel 091 569777), located in the Galway Town Hall. The Full Festival Programme is available on www.galwayfilmfleadh.com.
