News

Irish cinema in Busan, Pordenone and New York

Redazione IFF News ,

Garage • Rogues, Rebels and Romantics: A Season of Irish Cinema is the name of the programme dedicated to Irish cinema by the 18th Busan International Film Festival (3-12 October).

Irish directors John Butler, Lance Daly, Neil Jordan, Brendan Muldowney and Jim Sheridan attended the festival and took part, as reported by Variety, in a panel discussion about the current state of Irish film industry and its possibilities of growth in the Korean, Asian and international market.

The Busan retrospective line up, provided by the Irish Film Institute and the Irish Film Board, is composed by eleven titles: Garage by Lenny Abrahamson (2007), Love Eternal by Brendan Muldowney (2013), Life’s a Breeze by Lance Daly (2013), The Stag by John Butler (2013), Leo the Last by John Boorman (1970), The Crying Game by Neil Jordan (1992), In the Name of the Father by Jim Sheridan (1993), Michael Collins by Neil Jordan (1996), The General by John Boorman (1998), In America by Jim Sheridan (2002) e Once by John Carney (2006).

Source: Irish Film Institute

 

• The Pordenone Silent Film Festival (Giornate del Cinema Muto di Pordenone, 5 – 12 October) is also going to screen two Irish films: the short The Girl with the Mechanical Maiden directed by Andrew Legge (special mention at Irish Film Festa 2012) and Natan: The Untold Story of French Cinema’s Forgotten Genius, a documentary by David Cairns and Paul Duane which unveils the forgotten story of French-Romanian producer and director Bernard Natan.

Source: Cineteca del Friuli

 

• Irish Film New York (4 – 6 October) just took place at the Cantor Film Center presenting a selection of recent films: Run & Jump by Steph Green (2013), Made in Belfast by Paul Kennedy (2013), Silence by Pat Collins (2012), King of Travellers by Mark O’Connor (2012), When Ali Came to Ireland by Ross Whitaker (2012) and The Hardy Bucks Movie by Mike Cockayne (2013). Film critic Ronan Doyle wrote an interesting piece about IFNY and the growing importance of contemporary Irish cinema for Indiewire.

Source: Irish Film NY

Irish Film Festa 2014, submissions for short films competition are open

Redazione IFF News

FaviconFFThe 7th edition of IRISH FILM FESTA, which will take place from March 27th to 30th 2014, is now open to submissions for short films from Ireland.

In order to be eligible, entries must be submitted before December 15th, 2013.

Ten short films will be later selected from all the entries for the competitive section of the festival.

Films, under 30 minutes in lenght, can be sent on DVD by mail to
Associazione Culturale ARCHIMEDIA
via Segesta 16
00179 Roma (Italia)

Films can also be uploaded online. In this case, a private link must be sent to info@irishfilmfesta.org or susanna@irishfilmfesta.org.

Minister Michael Ring and Ambassador Patrick Hennessy will open the Special St.Patrick’s Day IrishFilmFesta

Redazione IFF News

 

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The “Saint Patrick Special” will open officially at 3.30 pm. The public will be addressed by the Irish Ambassador to Italy, H.E. Patrick Hennesy and the Irish Minister for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring, T.D.
This one-day programme, will feature in this order: a marathon of animation shorts, the full-length The Secret of Kells and conclude with What Richard Did by Lenny Abrahamson.

The Secret of Kells and a master class by director Nora Twomey at IrishFilmFesta

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SONGoftheSeaTo conclude its special one-day event dedicated to animation, the IrishFilmFesta presents The Secret of Kells (Tom Moore, Nora Twomey, 2009), a full-length animation film nominated for an Oscar in 2010.

Loved by audiences of all ages, this fascinating film draws its inspiration from the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript housed at Trinity College, Dublin. Among the voices lent to the animated characters we find that of the celebrated Irish actor Brendan Gleeson. 

After the screening, the director Nora Twomey will hold a brief master class and provide some examples of the work done for The Secret of Kells and for the much-awaited, new animated film Song of the Sea which she is at present creating with the same artists.

(Screening and Masterclass from 6.30pm.)

 

Screening in 3D of The Boy in The Bubble and award to Kealan O’Rourke

Redazione IFF News ,

BOY-BUBBLE-3On Sunday 17th March, during the Saint Patrick Special, The Boy in the Bubble, which won last winter’s IRISHFILMFESTA award for shorts, will be screened in 3D. On that occasion, the director Kealan O’Rourke will receive the IRISHFILMFESTA awarded him last winter.

A clear tribute to Tim Burton, The Boy in the Bubble tells the story of a boy who, after his first taste of disappointed love, places himself under a magical spell so as not to suffer again. The narrating voice is that of Alan Rickman.

Screening at 6.30 pm.

The best Irish animation shorts open the Saint Patrick’s edition of the IrishFilmFesta

Redazione IFF News

AFter_You_1_600_338 (1)The IrishFilmFesta opens its special one day Saint Patrick’s edition at Rome’s Casa del Cinema with a selection of the best all-time Irish animation shorts (Animated Ireland, at 3.30 pm).

The programme includes productions dating from between 1909 and the present, chosen by Steve Woods, who will introduce the event with a short conference  on Irish cinema animation.

Director, scriptwriter and producer, Steve Woods is one of the founders of the Galway Festival and creator of the James Horgan prize awarded annually to Irish animation artists. Besides teaching at the National Film School – IADT, in Dun Laoghaire, Woods runs a production house, Cel’ Division, located in Dublin.

“What Richard Did”, by Lenny Abrahamson at the Saint Patrick’s Day edition of the IRISHFILMFESTA.

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JackReynorIFTA20132101116705The Saint Patrick’s Day one-day IRISHFILMFESTA programme will conclude with What Richard Did, Lenny Abrahamson’s latest film.

The film, which has just received five IFTA awards in Ireland – best film, best director, best leading actor , best screen-play and best editing – is the third feature film made by Abrahamson, undoubtedly one of the New Irish Cinema‘s  foremost film-making talents.

Based on the novel  Bad Day in Blackrock by Kevin Power, What Richard Did explores the drama of a  well-to-do upper-middle-class Dublin youth whose perfect life is ruined by an unexpected act of violence. In the title role,  the young Jack Reynor whose performance has already won him a prominent place in the international cinema firmament, and an important new part in Transformers 4 by Michael Bay.

(picture: Jack Reynor with his IFTA)

Irish Film Festa – A focus on Irish animation

Redazione IFF News

The Secret of KellsSunday 17th March: an entire St. Patrick’s Day will be dedicated to the vibrant Irish animation industry with this unique initiative.

Irish Film Festa aims to present, in Italy, a comprehensive overview of Irish animation, currently a prominent and thriving area of the Irish film industry. This celebrative day sees a conference on the history of Irish animation and the screening of a wide selection of short films and the feature The Secret of Kells.

 

Shadow Dancer

Redazione IFF News , , ,

United Kingdom, Ireland, 2012

 

Today, at 18.00, at the House of Cinema in Rome. The movie will be introduced by Stuart Graham.

 

Director: James Marsh; screenplay: Tom Bradby; cinematography: Rob Hardy; editing: Jinx Godfrey; production design: Jon Henson; costumes: Lorna Marie Mugan; music: Dickon Hinchliffe; casting: Nina Gold; producers: Chris Coen, Andrew Lowe, Ed Guiney; production companies: Unanimous Entertainment, Element Pictures, Wild Bunch Productions; Italian distribution: Moviemax; Irish location: Dublin; running time: 100’

Cast: Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Domhnall Gleeson, Brid Brennan, Aidan Gillen, Gillian Anderson, Martin McCann, David Wilmot, Michael McElhatton, Stuart Graham

 

Synopsis

Collette McVeigh is a Republican living in Belfast with her mother and hardliner IRA brothers. When she is arrested for her part in an aborted IRA bomb plot in London, an MI5 officer (Mac) offers her a choice: lose everything and go to prison for 25 years or return to Belfast to spy on her own family.

With her son’s life in her hands, Collette chooses to place her trust in Mac and return home, but when her brothers’ secret operation is ambushed, suspicions of an informant are raised and Collette finds both herself and her family in grave danger.


Fionnula Flanagan at IrishFilmFesta 2012

Redazione IFF News

Guest of Honor at IrishFilmFesta 2012 is Fionnula Flanagan, Irish performer of uncountable successful films. Among her most well-known roles is the one of Miss Bertha Millis, the housekeeper of The Others‘ haunted mansion.

The actress will take the floor at the Festival after the Irish Classic screening of Some Mother’s Son (1996), debut feature of the director Terry George, to whom IrishFilmFesta is paying homage this year with the screening of The Shore, Academy Award 2012 winner for Best Short.

Some Mother’s Son, awarded at the European Film Awards and San Sebastian Film Festival, is set during the 1981 Hunger Strike in the Long Kesh prison. Fionnula Flanagan plays the mother of one of the young Republican prisoners inspired by Bobby Sands.

This year, Fionnula has received the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award, prestigious recognition assigned by the Irish Film & Television Academy. Her relentless activity in both Cinema and Television, internationally and in her homeland, is highlighted among the award motivations.

Today, she will be interviewed in front of the festival audience and the event will be managed by Susanna Pellis (Head of Irish Film Festa) and Aine O’Healy (Director, Humanities Program – Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures – Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles).

This is a rare occasion to meet Mrs Flanagan in Rome and it’s not to be missed.

Stuart Graham at IFF 2012

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The actor Stuart Graham will be present at the Casa del Cinema for the screening of two films he has a role in: Milo, Saturday December 8, at 15.30, and Shadow Dancer, Sunday December 9 at 18.00. Both screenings to be held at Deluxe screening room.

Milo is a 10 year old boy, seriously ill with a genetic disorder which forces him to live under the strict supervision of his father. A missed kidnapping, an unusual friendship and a harsh confrontation will drive Milo and his parents to embrace their beautifully imperfect lives.

The film is in the Official Selection of Giffoni Film Festival 2013.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Stuart Graham.

Shadow Dancer, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2012 and was screened Out of Competition in the 62nd Berlinale IFF, is set in Belfast in 1990 and tells the story of Colette McVeigh (Andrea Riseborough), facing a painful choice: to serve a 25 year prison sentence away from her son, or become an undercover informant of the British Government, betraying her own family and their IRA militant ideals.

The film has just received its Italian premiere at the Torino Film Festival 2012.

The actor Stuart Graham will introduce the screening.