Irish cinema will be in the spotlight in America this month with a host of U.S Irish film festivals taking place across the states. Friday, March 4th will see the launch of the Chicago Irish Film Festival whilst the Irish Film Festival, Boston, will take place from the 24th to the 27th of March and the Irish Reels Film Festival, Seattle will take place on March 12th and 13th.
Chicago Irish Film Festival
The 2011 Chicago Irish Film Festival will launch on Friday, March 4th with the Midwest U.S. premiere of Ian Power’s ‘The Runway’. The screening of the feature will be attended by the film’s writer/director, Ian Power (Dental Breakdown) and producer, Macdara Kelleher (Colony). On March 5th, the festival will also screen the U.S. premiere of Fastnet Films’ IFTA winning sports documentary, ‘In Sunshine or in Shadow’ which will be attended by director Andrew Gallimore (Gualainn le Gualainn) and producer Morgan Bushe (Nothing Personal).
Other features at the event include Marian Quinn’s ‘32A’; Ross Whittaker’s ‘Blind Man Walking’ and Mark O’Connor’s ‘Between the Canals’. A large emphasis is placed on short Irish films and the festival’s closing night gala will be marked with the showing of 11 shorts including Gavin Keane’s ‘Cold Turkey’; Domhnall Gleeson’s ‘Noreen’; Mark Noonan’s ‘Getting Air’ and John McCloskey’s ‘Guns, Bees and Tadpoles’. The festival will run until March 9th.
The Irish Reels Film Festival, Seattle
The Seattle fest will take place on March 12th and 13th and will see films such as Brian Hayes ‘Blood of the Irish’; Paul Fraser’s ‘My Brothers’; Kelly Candaele’s ‘When Hope and History Rhymed’ screening.
Irish Film Festival, Boston
IFTA nominated projects such as ‘Parked’, ‘Deep End Dance’ and ‘The Runway’ are all lined up to screen at the 12th annual Irish Film Festival, Boston later this month. The event will take place from the 24th to the 27th of March and will feature over 35 Irish films screening.
The festival, the largest Irish film festival in the United States, will also play host to numerous Irish filmmakers and US distributors who will be in attendance. Darragh Byrne's ‘Parked’ starring Colm Meaney (Kings) will open the festival on March 24th at the 450-seat Stuart Street Playhouse in Downtown Boston. Director Darragh Byrne and producers Dominic Wright (Lapland Odyssey) and Jacqueline Kerrin (Earthbound) will be in attendance at the screening and will be on hand to collect the Aer Lingus Best Feature Award following the screening.
Bord Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board Deputy Chief Executive Teresa McGrane commented on the upcoming wave of Irish US film festivals, saying: “The US Irish film festivals are wonderful ambassadors for Irish film in North America. They can help producers to get their films out to a wider audience in the US in a number of ways. They provide a support network at the distribution stage of a film or indeed they can provide a platform for potential local distributors to see Irish films with an audience. At both stages, utilised properly, they are a positive asset for the Irish film industry.”
