As the Irish and international film industry elite pack their bags to head west, here’s a round-up of films screening at the Galway Film Fleadh that may have gone under the radar with all the Oscar, IFTA, and Cannes Award-winners buzz.
Filmbase students’ feature film ‘Keys to the City’ will screen its world premiere at the Fleadh on Thursday July 12, having been selected last month. The film, which was crewed by Filmbase MSc Digital Feature Film Production students and industry professionals, has a recession-based plotline, which sees characters Eoin, Paul and Monika resort to desperate measures when they each struggle to pay bills.
Laura Way, Chris Brennan and Mel Cannon all directed ‘Keys to the City’, and Peter Bodie and Tricia Flood produced. The script was written by James Fair (The Ballad of Des & Mo), Conor Horgan (One Hundred Mornings) and IFTA Award-winner Conor McDermottroe (Swan Song – Story of Occi Byrne). Rory Keenan and Conor Mullen star.
‘Keys to the City’ will screen at 12pm on Thursday July 12.
Irish-language documentary ‘Lón sa Spéir’ will screen at the Fleadh on Friday July 13. The documentary sees Irish production company Sónta embark on a journey to New York with two Galway-men to locate the exact area the iconic ‘Lunch atop a Skyscraper’ photograph was taken in 1932. Both Galway-men believe their fathers feature in the photograph taken by Charles C. Ebbets. Fionnula Flanagan narrates the documentary, which was directed by Seán Ó Cualáin and produced by Éamonn Ó Cualáin.
As an additional celebration of the documentary, Sónta is inviting members of the public to recreate the iconic image in Eyre Square in Galway on Tuesday, July 10. Interested parties should contact Sónta directly at 095 33933 or at eolas@sonta.ie.
‘Lón sa Spéir’ will screen at the Galway Town Hall Theatre on Friday July 13 at 1pm.
Also screening at the Fleadh on Friday July 13 is ‘Pilgrim Hill’, the feature film directed by Gerard Barrett which aims to shed a light on the dark side of rural Ireland. The film follows middle-aged farmer Jimmy Walshe as he struggles to care for his failing family farm and his elderly father.
Barrett (The Valley of Knockanure) took on the roles of writer, director and producer for his feature film debut. The 80-minute film stars Joe Mullins, Muiris Crowley, Corina Gough and Kevin McCormack. The film aims to bring the reality of middle-aged men and women living in rural Ireland who face isolation and loneliness to the fore.
It recently received completion funding from the IFB, and has been tipped as a must-see from industry professionals.
The feature will screen at the Galway Town Hall Theatre at 5pm on Friday July 13.
Short films are also recognised at the Fleadh, with Irish writer Thomas Martin’s (Raw) short ‘All That Way For Love’ also screening on Friday July 13. The film sees a young Irish man travel across Sub-Saharan Africa and hitch a ride with an older European couple, an event which changes his life forever.
The film was shot on location in Kenya, and was directed by British director Henry Mason. It has recently received distribution funding from the BFI following a successful stint at the Tribeca Film festival, where it was voted in the top five films to see at the festival. Andrew Simpson, who has recently been cast in BBC series ‘The Life & Adventures of Nick Nickleby’, stars in the short.
‘All That Way For Love’ will screen on Friday July 13.
For a list of all screenings of feature films and shorts please click here to see the full Galway Film Fleadhprogramme.
