Film and TV projects supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s Broadcasting Funding Scheme feature strongly on the programme at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh which takes place this week.
Both the opening and closing films of this year’s Fleadh are BAI funded while six other BAI projects will receive their Irish premiere over the next few days. These include ‘My Name is Emily’; ‘Song of the Sea’; ‘An Náisiún’; ‘Mary Mc Aleese & The Man Who Saved Europe’; ‘Nancy Corrigan – Spéirbhean Acla’; ‘The Pursuit’; ‘Deoch an Dorais’; and ‘An Klondike’.
Speaking ahead of this year’s Fleadh, Michael O’Keeffe, Chief Executive of the BAI said: “We are delighted with the variety of BAI supported projects being shown at the Galway Film Fleadh this year. The range of themes, subject matter and language of the projects gives a really good sense of the wide variety of content being funded by the Sound & Vision Broadcasting Funding Scheme which derives from the television licence fee. The BAI is extremely pleased that licence fee payers’ money is being invested into high quality and diverse programming.”
BAI funded projects at the Fleadh include:
My Name is Emily (Opening Film)
Tuesday, 7th July / Town Hall Theatre / 19.30 / 2015 / Ireland, Sweden, Norway / 94min
Director: Simon Fitzmaurice
Cast: Evanna Lynch, George Webster, Michael Smiley
Script: Simon Fitzmaurice
Producer: Lesley McKimm, Kathryn Kennedy
It’s Emily’s 16th birthday and for the first time in her life, she doesn’t receive a birthday card from her dad. After meeting a fellow outsider at her new school, Emily and her handsome ally, Arden, decide to embark on a road trip adventure across Ireland to find her missing father. They are an odd couple, this pale girl and the boy in the velvet suit. Along the way, they find love as well as some hard and unexpected truths.
In 2008, award-winning director Simon Fitzmaurice was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. Undaunted, Simon remained determined to write and direct a feature. The script was completed using iris-recognition technology. The result is a triumphant film, both on screen and off, and a testament to the creative drive of a unique and gifted filmmaker.
Director Simon Fitzmaurice and cast will attend.
An Náisiún
Thursday, 9th July / Town Hall Studio / 16.15 / 2015 / Ireland / 53min
Director: Andrew Gallimore
Producer: Morgan Bushe
An Náisiún depicts the events of just a few short months. It’s a story of fierce bloody fighting on the streets of Limerick and its surrounding hinterland — comrade against comrade, brother against brother, with nothing less than the future of the Irish nation at stake.
Song of the Sea
Thursday, 9th July / Town Hall Theatre / 18.00 / 2014 / Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, France / 93min
Director: Tomm Moore
Cast: David Rawle, Lisa Hannigan, Brendan Gleeson, Lucy O’Connell, Fionnula Flanagan, Jon Kenny
Script: Will Collins, Tomm Moore
Producers: Tomm Moore, Claus Toksvig Kjaer, Paul Young
Nominated for an Oscar and named as the IFTA Irish Film of the Year 2015, Song of the Sea tells the story of Ben and his little sister Saoirse — the last Seal-child — who embark on a fantastic journey across a fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to their home by the sea. The film takes inspiration from the mythological Selkies of Irish folklore, who live as seals in the sea but become humans on land.
Song of the Sea is directed by Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells), and features the voices of Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, David Rawle, Lisa Hannigan, Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny. Music is by composer Bruno Coulais and Irish band Kíla, both of whom previously collaborated on The Secret of Kells.
Director Tomm Moore and cast will attend.
Mary McAleese & The Man Who Saved Europe
Friday, 10th July / Town Hall Theatre / 14.00 / 2015 / Ireland / 59min
Director: Declan McGrath
Producers: Declan McGrath, David Kilpatrick
Irish monk Columbanus and his disciples established over one hundred centres of scholarship and spirituality throughout the European continent. These foundations are said to have preserved Western civilisation during the dark ages. The former President travels through Ireland, France, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, to uncover Columbanus’ legacy. She discovers that the ultimate relevance of Columbanus’ story is how it shows the benefits of being hospitable to the “other”, and how such openness to diversity can offer lessons to the often fractured Europe of today.
Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese and director Declan McGrath will attend.
Nancy Corrigan – Spéirbhean Acla
Friday, 10th July / Town Hall Studio / 14.15 / 2014 / Ireland / 54min
Nancy Corrigan — Spéirbhean Acla is an inspirational story about a young girl from poverty-stricken Achill Island who emigrated to America in 1929. Nancy landed in Cleveland, Ohio smack bang in the middle of the National Air Races and immediately a seed was planted. Not content to be a maid for the rest of her life, Nancy set her sights high. Through modelling in New York, she financed her aviation ambitions, becoming a pioneering female pilot, training male fighters during WWI, teaching aeronautical engineering at a number of colleges, and surviving a brush with death while competing in the 1948 Cleveland Air Races.
Director Gillian Marsh will attend.
The Pursuit
Friday, 10th July / Town Hall Theatre / 22.00 / 2015 / Ireland / 95min
Director: Paul Mercier
Cast: Ruth Bradley, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Ward, Owen Roe, Liam Cunningham, Don Wycherley, Dara Devaney, David Pearse
Script: Paul Mercier
Producer: Anne Gately
Once upon a time, there was a princess who sang in the forest until she could sing no more. Her father was a king who was feared but never loved. And it made him angry. For it was Fionn, his appointed chief, who won the hearts of the people. It was Fionn who protected them from their enemies. It was he who roamed the forests, the mountains and the seas. And wherever Fionn went, he was never without his trusted warrior, Diarmuid…”
Paul Mercier’s modern take on the legend of Diarmuid and Gráinne makes for a contemporary myth about the pursuit of power, class, love and the chance to start again. The film features an exciting ensemble of Irish actors with Ruth Bradley, Liam Cunningham, Brendan Gleeson, Owen Roe, David Pearse and Barry Ward.
Director Paul Mercier and cast will attend.
Deoch an Dorais (Name Your Poison)
Saturday, 11th July / Town Hall Studio / 14.15 / 2015 / Ireland, USA / 51min
Director: Paddy Hayes
Cast: Anthony Molloy, Fran Cooke, Paul O’Brien
Script: Paddy Hayes
Producer: Ciara Nic Chormaic
Just how did they kill the “Rasputin of the Bronx”? GAA hard man Anthony Molloy journeys to New York in search of the toughest Irish immigrant America was ever to see: Mike Malloy, the “Rasputin of the Bronx.”
Mike was a lowly alcoholic vagrant in Depression-era New York. Four unscrupulous associates saw him as an easy target for a fast buck: Why don’t we take out a life assurance policy on this Irish bum and kill him? “Durable Mike” survived over twenty attempts on his life. Anthony tells his story here for the first time in all its glorious, gobsmacking and gory detail.
Director Paddy Hayes will attend.
An Klondike (Closing Film)
Sunday, 12th July / Town Hall Theatre / 20.30 2014 / Ireland / 110min
Director: Dathaí Keane
Cast: Owen McDonnell, Julian Black Antelope, Dara Devaney, Robert O’Mahoney, Sean T O’Meallaigh
Script: Marcus Fleming
Producers: Pierce Boyce, Eileen Seoighe, Brid Seoighe
An Klondike tells the story of the Connollys — three Irish brothers who journey from the silver mines of Montana to the Klondike Valley in the hope of striking it rich. They seek their fortune in Dominion Creek, a town built on greed, where the Connollys become embroiled in a deadly feud with Jacob Hopkins, the man who runs Dominion. When Séamus Connolly shoots Jacob’s son in a duel, Jacob vows revenge.
The Connollys become powerful figures in the Klondike themselves when their claim proves to be a goldmine, but their new found wealth leads to a rift between them. Tom Connolly is corrupted by his lust for power and gold and turns his back on his own brothers. Hopkins uses this to his advantage to turn the Connollys against one another in the hope of wiping them out for good.
Director Dathaí Keane and cast will attend.
Contact: Tony Heffernan, DHR Communications, Tel: 087-2399508
Note to Editors:
About the Fleadh
The Galway Film Fleadh – Ireland’s leading film festival, is a six day international film event held every July and welcomes a mad diversity of filmmaking from around the world. The Fleadh is very much a film lovers’ festival, and attracts directors, actors, cinematographers and artists of all generations and cultural backgrounds. Now in its 27th year, the central goal of the Galway Film Fleadh remains unchanged: to bring together audiences and filmmakers within an intimate environment, and share a common experience – the wonder of cinema. The Fleadh’s diverse audience is made up of the general cinema going public, film buffs, industry professionals and invited guests. More information is available at: http://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com
The Film Market
The BAI supported Film Marketplace offers attendees the opportunity to meet with the world’s leading financiers in an intimate and informal atmosphere, allowing new talent to be discovered and long term partnerships to be made.
The Marketplace co-ordinates pre-scheduled meetings between filmmakers with projects in development (priority will be given to projects which have a finished screenplay available and a percentage of development and/or production finance in place) and/or completed films and invited Film Financiers, Distributors, Sales Agents, Broadcasters, Film Funds and Major Producers.
If you have a completed film/documentary or a project in development and would like to participate in the Marketplace at the Galway Film Fair please complete an application form and return it with a 100 word typed synopsis of your project. More information is available at: http://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com