As the world celebrates Canada Day today on July 1st, the Galway Film Fleadh, taking place from July 8th-13th is gearing up to celebrate a week of Canadian cinema as part of its focus on Canada at this year’s festival. Amongst the many benefits of Ireland and Canada’s longstanding relationship, our audio-visual sectors have mutually profited from a co-production treaty signed by our two governments in 1989.
Canada is Ireland’s largest co-production partner outside of the UK and this year the Galway Film Fleadh, in partnership with Telefilm Canada, is celebrating 25 years of co-production between our two countries by showcasing a wide selection of the best in New Canadian Cinema and bringing some of Canada’s leading filmmaking talent to Galway.
Films on offer include Stay, starring Aidan Quinn and Taylor Schilling (Orange is the New Black), which was shot in Canada and Connemara and The Grand Seduction, starring our own Brendan Gleeson as a mischievous, unemployed fisherman in a sleepy village in Newfoundland. Canada has a long and proud tradition of documentary filmmaking and we are delighted to screen exciting titles such as Our Man in Tehran, the true story behind Argo (2012) and a Canadian antidote to Hollywood embellishment, as well as Lunarcy, a humorous portrait of visionaries, geeks and wackos united by their obsession with the moon.
Galway will host a delegation of Canadian filmmakers who will participate in Q+A’s with the audience after screenings of their films including The Auction, a bittersweet study of personal sacrifice in economically depressed rural Quebec; Rhymes for Young Ghouls, an audacious genre-bending debut drama and Another House, a moving family drama starring three generations of great Quebecois actors.
Canada even features amidst our renowned short film selection, in a short romance drama called Fearless, directed by Ted Kotcheff (First Blood, Law & Order, SVU) and starring our own Fionnula Flanagan.
Here’s the full list of the Canadian films on display:
Wednesday 9th July
Watermark
IMC 7, 18:30
Thursday 10th July
The Auction
IMC 6, 16:15
Our Man in Tehran
IMC 6, 18:15
Friday 11th July
Stay
IMC 7, 14:30
The Grand Seduction
IMC 7, 18:30
Lunarcy
Cinemobile, 20:00
Rhymes for Young Ghouls
IMC 7, 22:15
Saturday 12th July
Another House
IMC 6, 16:00
Gerontophilia
Cinemobile, 22:00