Bringing a taste of Ireland to America is a network of Stateside Irish Film Festivals. Showcasing the rural West in box-office smash ‘The Guard’, inner city Dublin in ‘Pyjama Girls’ and the secretive culture of bare knuckle boxing in the Travelling Community in Ian Palmer’s revealing documentary ‘Knuckle’ are a trio of Irish Film Festivals taking place at the end of this month -The San Francisco Irish Film Festival (September 23rd-26th), the Los Angeles Irish Film Festival (September 30th-October 2nd) and the special Irish Screening Series ‘Irish Film New York’ (September 30th -October 2nd).
The network (which also includes Boston, Chicago, and Seattle festival) of Irish Film Festivals in the US continues to grow, with 2011 welcoming the first New York Irish Film event. The Irish/US events not only give American audiences a chance to engage with Irish films, but also give Irish filmmakers a platform to display their craft and forge important contacts.
IFTN caught up with founder and Director of the San Francisco Irish Film Festival and New York Irish Film Niall McKay and also with the co-founder and Director of Los Angeles Irish Film Festival Lisa McLaughlin ahead of the upcoming festivals.
Can you tell us about the origins of the festivals?
Niall: I founded the San Francisco Irish Film Festival eight years ago. I decided to set up the New York one after I moved there. New York is an exciting area for filmmakers. San Francisco has a great cinema-going public but New York and LA are key areas for filmmakers. New York is a very exciting market, you could go to the cinema at 4 o’clock on a Monday afternoon and the cinema will be half-full. It’s one of the few places in the world where people go to the movies all the time, so there is a market there for independent cinema.
Lisa: Niall had come down to LA where we did a screening five years ago and we put our heads together and decided to get this Irish Film Festival going in LA. Because Niall had already set up the San Francisco Irish Film Festival, he helped me get in touch with filmmakers and to get the LA festival off the ground. The LA Irish Festival is now in its fourth year.
How much co-ordination is there between the various Irish/American Film Festivals?
Lisa: There is a lot and especially this year, with the first New York Festival. There are crossovers between the films showing at the event and ‘Parked’ and ‘The Runway’, will be screened at NY, San Francisco and LA. We also have filmmakers coming over from Ireland, who are attending several of the festivals. The intention has always been to connect them all. We’ve worked closely with Boston, Seattle and Washington Irish film festivals and we want the network of Irish festivals to continue to grow.
Niall: We are all in contact and this is the first year we have co-ordinated filmmakers coming out to all three events. What I’d like to do is to try and help Irish films and filmmakers make their way in the United States and build an industry event. We have representatives from the Irish Film Board and IFTA coming out to the festivals too. The Irish Film Industry has grown and has made tremendous films and we want to help get them out there and for people to appreciate them. I hope, in whatever way I can, to help that process and I know that’s what Lisa is trying to do with the LA festival and what the other Irish/US festivals are doing. So we are all in touch with each other and we are all on the same page with these things.
Can you tell me about the process of selecting films for the festivals?
Niall: For New York, I selected the films. There were submissions for San Francisco. There are only a limited amount of features made each year and I tend to choose films that I feel would have an emotional impact on me. This year we’ve been lucky because three of the Irish films (‘The Runway’, ‘Knuckle’, ‘Parked’) are going into distribution in the United States in the coming months.
Lisa: We do accept submissions for LA, but I also like to play a part in picking the films. Now that people know about the festival, we get submissions all year round. It’s all about getting the right mix. In LA, every night is very different. Opening night is ‘The Guard’ screening, honouring Fionnula Flanagan. Friday night will be our music night, with the twentieth anniversary screening of ‘The Commitments’ and a screening of ‘The Swell Season’. ‘The Commitments’ writers Ian Le Frenais and Dick Clement will be there along with ‘The Commitments’ music arranger Paul Bushnell. We have photo exhibitions with never-before seen pictures of The Beatles, taking by Curt Gunther. Saturday night is the classic night with ‘The Quiet Man’ and ‘Dreaming the Quiet Man’ and Sunday is contemporary Irish films.
There is a little bit of everything for everybody – all genres and all tastes and getting that mix influences the selection process.
What sort of audiences is attracted to the Irish Film Festivals?
Lisa: The festival does have a loyal audience and we do see some of the same faces. The Irish community always come out and support it and make it a very fun film festival. We are co-presented by the American Cinematheque so we also have an audience built in from that. It’s a mix.
The LA festival has a reputation for being a fun film festival. LA is almost saturated in film screenings. You can see a movie whenever you want here and there are constant special screenings and festivals. So people can get a bit jaded. People want something a little bit different and I think that is what the festival does it gives people a taste of Ireland. You get a flavour of the hospitality and warmth of Ireland from the people that attend, the filmmakers that come, the music and the exhibits. It’s like you are getting a wee taste of home.
Niall: In San Francisco, my experience has been that your base audience is the Irish contingent - the last wave of immigrants, probably people who came out in the 90s. In San Francisco, we have a very loyal base audience of people who come back year after year. Your base audience will keep you alive but you won’t prosper. You have to really reach out to that independent movie audience, independent film lovers. The same people who would support the French Film Festival and SF International Film Festival.
I think New York will be similar, with an Irish network of attendees, but there is a great market there for independent cinema lovers too.
What are the future plans for the festivals?
Lisa: The LA festival is growing every year. The line-up is getting bigger and better. As well as films, we try and do photo exhibits, artist exhibits and a lot of music. There are a lot of elements attached to the festival and that keeps growing and I’m pretty happy about that.
Niall: What I’d like to do is to try and help Irish films and filmmakers make their way in the United States. Receptions and Industry events help this, as does having a network of Irish Film Festivals. It helps to maximize the impact, so we will continue working together to showcase this Irish talent.
NEW YORK IRISH FILM
Friday Sept 30th: Knuckle (Documentary)
Saturday October 1st: 32A, The Runway
Sunday October 2nd: Pyjama Girls (Documentary)
Sunday October 2nd: Parked, Sensation
LA IRISH FILM FESTIVAL
Thursday September 29th: The Guard, Steve Brennan Tribute Award to Fionnula Flanagan.
Friday Sept 30th: The Killing Joke (Short Musical), The Swell Season (Documentary), No Jericho (Music Video)
Saturday Oct 1st: The Commitments 20th anniversary screening. Bye, Bye Now (Documentary), The Pipe (Documentary), Dreaming the Quiet Man (Documentary).
The Quiet Man
Sunday Oct 2nd: Knuckle, Yuki (Short), Parked, Pentecost (Short), The Runway
SF IRISH FILM FESTIVAL
Thursday Sept 22nd: The Runway
Friday Sept 23rd: Parked, I Went Down
Saturday Sept 24th: The Secret of Kells (Animation), Pyjama Girls (Documentary), Magners ‘n’ Shorts, Once, In The Name Of The Father
Sunday Sept 25th: Hunger, The Swell Season (Documentary)
