The 25th anniversary programme for the Galway Film Fleadh, which takes place this year from Tuesday, 9th July to Sunday, 14th July, has been announced. The ‘Fleadh Floozie’, which adorns the cover of the 25th programme, was initially designed by Maria Murray as the cover of the very first Galway Film Fleadh programme in 1989. The version launched today is a contemporary update by the very talented Matthew Griffin and represents the growth and importance of this six day international film event over the past quarter of a century.
Speaking at the launch, festival programmer Gar O’ Brien said, “This programme is in many ways a celebration of the Fleadh’s evolution over the years but it is not a retrospective. You won’t find many examples of films that we can look back on fondly and remember the good old days, or any of that kind of thing, rather it is a continuation and celebration of the ethos that has seen the Fleadh grow from strength to strength over the last quarter century, with premières of New Irish Films each evening and luminaries of the craft from around the world as our invited guests.”
Director Roger Gual and star Fionnula Flanagan will attend the screening of their sumptuous Spanish drama-comedy, Tasting Menu on Tuesday, 9th July at The Town Hall Theatre. Thursday, 10th July sees the screening of Mister John, staring Aiden Gillen (The Wire, Game of Thrones) also at The Town Hall Theatre.
Other ones to watch in this year’s Fleadh include Out of Here, a coming of age story about returning home too soon that offers a contemporary portrait of youth culture in Dublin; Love Eternal, based on the Japanese novel “In Love with the Dead“, about a death-fixated young man who tries to make sense of the world by getting closer to death; Cold, starring Jack Reynor, is a tragic and surreal love story about catharsis and redemption and Dark By Noon, a sci-fi time-travel thriller.
On the documentary front the Fleadh will screen Plot for Peace, the untold story behind the world-wide icon Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and a mysterious French businessman, dubbed «Monsieur Jacques» ; We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, details the creation of Julian Assange’s controversial website, which facilitated the largest security breach in U.S. history and Coming Home, which tells the story of Angel Cordero who spent 13 years in a maximum security prison for a crime it was proved he didn’t commit.
Disney Pixar’s new animation Monsters University, will screen at Eye Cinema on Wednesday 10th July at 7:30pm and as part of this year’s animation focus, the Fleadh will present a special screening of Disney-Pixar’s award-winning shorts in chronological order, the first time this programme has ever been presented in Europe.
The festival will also have a strand dedicated to film from Luxembourg, with whom Ireland has a co-production treaty, signed at the Film Fleadh in 2011. Among the Grand Duchy’s wide range of co-producations, the Fleadh will screen the highly anticipated international co-production, The Congress – a mix of animation and live action starring Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, Jon Hamm, Paul Giamatti and Danny Huston.
Events at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh include the director’s masterclass hosted by Julien Temple and the screen writers masterclass hosted by Daniel Waters, as well as the ‘Public Interview’ which takes place with Irish actress, Saoirse Ronan this year in the Town Hall Theatre on Sunday, 14th July. The Galway Film Fleadh is also delighted to welcome Zachary Quinto back to Galway. The prolific actor will be the subject of this year’s Actors Masterclass on Friday July 12th and will also take questions from the audience after public screenings of his films Star Trek and Margin Call.
For further details and information, log onto www.galwayfilmfleadh.com, chat to The Galway Film Fleadh on Facebook or Tweet @FilmFleadh