Pádraig Conaty’s independent Irish feature No Party for Billy Burns will have its world premiere at the 29th Galway Film Fleadh on Thursday, July 13th in the Town Hall Studio at 6:30pm. No Party for Billy Burns joins a host of other Irish feature films and documentaries at the festival.
Billy Burns is a simple young fellow with a wild imagination and a passion for Cowboy films. He lives with his reclusive grandfather on the outskirts of town and believes the old man was once a famous gunslinger. Left out by his friends, Billy relies on his imagination and love of working on the land to get him by. An infatuation with a local friends girlfriend finds Billy in a tangle and vilified by the only people who would tolerate him, and when he comes home one day to find his grandfather dead on the kitchen floor, Billy’s imagination gets the better of him and he heads into town with his gun.
My intention with the film is to present the mundanity young people experience in a rural town and the various methods they use to find catharsis. Through the main character Billy, I want to show how the imagination can both struggle and thrive under such conditions, with a little help from our obsession with American culture!
Pádraig Conaty, Director
The film stars Kevin McGahern (Republic of Telly, Hardy Bucks) as Billy, with support coming from Shane Connaughton (writer of The Playboys, Run of the Country, and Co-writer of My Left Foot), Sonya O’Donoghue (Penny Dreadful, Portrait of a Zombie), Charlie McGuinness (Victor’s Dung), Ray Reilly (Titanic: Blood and Steel), and Seamus O’Rourke.
No Party for Billy Burns was written and directed by Pádraig Conaty, with cinematography by Tommy Fitzgerald, production design by Siobhan Cassidy. It was edited by Phil Ronayne, with David Harte as First AD, sound recorded by Lorraine McCarthy and Barry Connolly, and makeup by Terri Pinnell and Michelle Leggett. The film is produced by Lisa McNamee.
To be selected to premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 2017 was a lovely surprise. Between the tremendous hard work of the cast and crew, and Kevin McGahern’s performance as Billy Burns, I think we have a very funny, moving and memorable Irish film.
Pádraig Conaty, Director
The 29th Galway Film Fleadh takes place from Tuesday 11th July until Sunday 16th July. Follow No Party for Billy Burns on Facebook, and learn more about the 29th Galway Film Fleadh on their website, Twitter and Facebook. Ticket can be purchased via the Fleadh website.