Fiona Shaw Irish Film London Patron
Fiona Shaw Irish Film London Patron

Fiona Shaw joins Irish Film London as their new Patron

Fiona Shaw, star of Killing Eve and Fleabag, has taken on a new role. The Cork-born actress joins Irish Film London (IFL) as its newest Patron.

Since 2011, IFL has championed Irish film, TV and animation across the UK and it has grown into the largest international Irish film festival in the world.

Fiona Shaw, who is currently gracing screens across the globe as MI6 boss Carolyn Martens in Killing Eve, said:

Ireland is having a moment. It is leapfrogging from being a struggling country to being an empowered country, so it is a very good moment to be part of that. I’m very proud to becoming part of something that got this foothold in this vast metropolis. It is not just an Irish film festival; it is an Irish film festival in London.

Fiona joins the IFL in the year of its tenth anniversary when the organisation faces new challenges. Every year it presents three film festivals in the UK, including a three-day festival as part of the annual Mayor of London’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations.  

Due to the Covid-19 crisis IFL had to take its St Patrick’s Film Festival online and, in the space of a few days, managed to pull together an impressive line-up of new features, old favourites and original Irish shorts for its online audience.

The online offering continues with fresh films, podcasts and other attractions added regularly to the IFL web screening presence, now named Irish Film From Home.

The IFL is working on ambitious plans to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis stronger and better. As well as their new Patron, IFL has just appointed a new Director to the Board and brought on new consultants to bolster its sponsorship and partnerships arm.

These difficult times have upturned everyone’s lives. They have created uncertainty for the entire film industry and for festivals like ours. But, as our online Irish Film From Home initiative shows, we’re not going to let anything stop us supporting the Irish film industry or giving our supporters some great film content during the lockdown.

As well as welcoming Fiona into the IFL family, we have a new Director joining our Board and two new festival team members starting.

Kelly O’Connor, Founder – Irish Film London

Dr Lara Ramdin joins the Board as Director for Sponsorship & Partnerships. Lara has an impressive background in business, holding senior leadership roles in innovation for major companies around the globe including Unilever, Estée Lauder and Molson Coors.

Working with Lara, IFL has made two fundraising appointments. Daniel Kemp of Make Films, joins IFL as a corporate sponsorship consultant. Daniel will be focused on building new partnerships to support the IFL’s main festival, its annual awards ceremony and its short film festivals to help mark St Brigid’s Day and St Patrick’s Day as well as special one-off events and other projects.

Alongside Daniel, Kishan Devani joins IFL as a fundraising consultant focused on developing a new donorship and patronage scheme. 

With these new members strengthening our team, we are celebrating our tenth anniversary by ensuring Irish Film London continues to be a strong voice for Irish film and Irish filmmakers in London and around the UK.

Kelly O’Connor, Founder – Irish Film London

Fiona joins an impressive roster of IFL Patrons that includes Hollywood star Colin Farrell, acclaimed young actor Moe Dunford, Oscar nominated director Lenny Abrahamson and one of the world’s leading casting directors, Ros Hubbard.

Irish Film London is supported, in part, by the Emigrant Support Programme under the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland, Culture Ireland, The Ireland Funds of Great Britain and the Irish Youth Foundation.

For more details go to irishfilmlondon.com

You can also go to the site to sign up for free access to Irish Film >From Home, the online film portal, which now includes an exclusive podcast and interview with IFL’s newest patron Fiona Shaw.