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President Higgins, Bob Quinn, Lelia Doolan, Galway City of Film Award - Photo: Emilija Jefremova

Galway UNESCO City of Film Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary with Tribute to Iconic Filmmaker Bob Quinn

By 10th Anniversary, Uncategorized

President Michael D. Higgins and Lelia Doolan Present City of Film Award

Photo Credit: Emilija Jefremova

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On Friday, November 29th, 2024, Galway UNESCO City of Film celebrated a major milestone with a special event honouring the groundbreaking work of acclaimed filmmaker Bob Quinn, whose contributions have profoundly shaped Irish cinema. Taking place at the Pálás Cinema, the evening featured a reception, the presentation of a prestigious award, and a screening of ‘Poitín’, a film that is a key cornerstone in Quinn’s illustrious career.

The centrepoint of the event was the presentation of the Ceantar Scannán Award to Bob Quinn by two distinguished guests: President Michael D. Higgins, a devoted champion of the arts, and renowned filmmaker and producer Lelia Doolan. This award honours Quinn’s immense contributions to Irish cinema, particularly his influential work in the West of Ireland, which has been pivotal in shaping Galway’s identity as a vibrant creative hub for film. Read More

Celebrating at Misleór!

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Galway City of Film were delighted to be able to attend several events this weekend as part of Misleór, the Festival of Nomadic Cultures.

Beginning with the opening ceremony at the Spanish Arch on Thursday 10th, which incorporated the outer facade of the Galway City Museum as part of its show, where attendees were invited to come on a wandering tour of Galway City which used spotlights to highlight sights of cultural and historic significance to nomadic minority cultures such as the Irish Travellers.

We were then able to attend the screenings of Sami Blood on and Time Traveller on Friday 11thTime Traveller was an award-winning short film starring a local traveler actor who was in attendance at the screening, and Sami Blood was a fictional feature film and winner of the European Parliament LUX Film Prize in 2017. It concerned Elle Marja, a 14-year-old Sami girl who found her relationship with her culture become strained as she was exposed to racism of the 1930s.

Finally on Saturday 12th we were able to attend the programme of short films that were being shown in the O’Donoghue Centre in NUIG. The first of these films were made recently and were especially concerned with showing aspects of Irish Traveller life that are currently under threat. The third and final film focused on the politics of Irish traveller women and their own history of political activism. Galway City of Film was delighted to be able to support Misleór in the creation of these short films, and would like to thank the Department of Culture, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht for enabling us to support such important local arts initiatives like this.

Congratulations to Alice McDowell, the Galway Traveller Movement, and everyone else involved in bringing this amazing festival to life!

Busan International Kids & Youth Film Festival – Poster Competition Winners!

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Earlier this year Galway City of Film was happy to invite Galway Schoolchildren to take part in the Poster Competition for BIKY, the Busan International Kids & Youth Film Festival.

We welcomed many submissions, and after going through them all we picked one clear winner. This winning poster was sent on to Busan and judged alongside submissions from other Cities of Film from around the Globe. Busan has picked their winning poster and shared the amazing entries from all around the globe with us!

 

Galway City’s winning entry came from the senior infants class in Claddagh National School, whose student drew from the theme of ‘I love playing’ to create their poster entitled ‘Come Join Me!’

 

A big congratulations to Claddagh National School, and we look forward to seeing your work next year!

The Man Who Invented Christmas – Galway Film Society

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On December 9th the galway Film Society will be hosting their annual Christmas screening, this year of a film named ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’, about the life of Charles Dickens as he was writing A Christmas Carol.

 

The screening will take place on Sunday December 9th at 3pm, and will be accompanied by Christmas refreshments and a party atmosphere.

 

For more information, see Palas.ie

‘Captain Morten and the Spider Queen’ – Irelands First Stop Motion Feature Film!

By News, Uncategorized
After six years in the making …… Telegael are delighted to introduce you to Captain Morten and the Spider Queen!

Telegael’s latest feature film Captain Morten and the Spider Queen is the first ever stop motion animated feature film produced in Ireland. It tells the story of a boy who builds a toy boat only to find himself sailing in it together with a crew of insects.

The all Irish cast includes, Brendan Gleeson, Pauline McLynn, Ciaran Hinds and Michael McElhatton as well as stand up comedians Jason Byrne, Tommy Tiernan and Neil Delamere.

The film is the brainchild of Kaspar Jancis, winner of the Cartoon D’Or for his short film “Krokodil”. Jancis is a writer, musician and animator and this is his first feature film. To put himself in the right frame of mind he roughed out the storyboard on a boat from Rotterdam to the Antarctic. He disembarked at Tristan da Cunha by which time he had finished the storyboard.

“We are delighted that ‘Captain Morten and the Spider Queen’ will be the first stop motion animated feature produced in Ireland” says Telegael CEO, Paul Cummins. “It is a terrific story played out with amazing characters and stunning visuals and features an all Irish cast. The film is bursting with fun and adventure with some comedy thrown in as well. We are looking forward to seeing Captain Morten and his crew inspire, entertain and engage audiences around the world.”

“It’s quirky and original”, says Producer Robin Lyons of Calon, “but at the same time it’s most definitely a family film. It’s a rites of passage film with some fantasy twists and imaginative visual elements. It’s moving, it’s adventurous and at times it’s very funny.”

The film is directed by Kaspar Jancis, former winner of Cartoon d’Or and is a co-production between Ireland, Estonia, Belgium and UK.

Captain Morten and the Spider Queen was launched at a market screening at the Cannes Film Festival this week  and the film has been selected for the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and the Zagreb World Festival of Animated Film in June.

You can view the official movie trailer at: https://www.telegael.com/blog-1/2018/5/4/captain-morten-nd-the-spider-queen-official-trailer

And also check out this really cool behind-the-scenes footage: https://www.telegael.com/blog-1/2018/5/3/behind-the-scenes-captain-morten-and-the-spider-queen

For any further information on the film see: www.telegael.com

#CeantarScannán