Following the movie-making maxim of ‘show, don’t tell’, we’re not going to spend a lot of time waxing lyrical about the past thirty years. Instead, you can visit our 30 Years of the Galway Film Fleadh photo exhibition in Tribeton on Merchants Rd. Or check out our retrospective of award winning shorts from the past thirty years, playing daily throughout the festival, free-of-charge. See early works from Lenny Abrahmson (3 Joes), Brown Bag Films (The Last Elk), Nora Twomey (From Darkness) and many many more.
Looking to the future, you will discover amazing new talent. Of the one hundred and seven feature films playing the 30th Galway Film Fleadh, fifty-five are first features. Twenty-one are World Premieres.
Among them, the atmospheric Magdalene Laundry drama, Cellar Door from director Viko Nicki, whose documentary Coming Home won Best Irish Documentary in 2013.
There’s the masterclass in independent filmmaking that is The Dig from first feature directors Ryan & Andrew Tohill.
And an ode to a particular kind of Irish upbringing in the revelatory Around Here from debut director Martin Beirne.
Speaking of debuts – and continuing the current wave of genre-refreshing horror films helmed by women – Aislinn Clarke’s The Devil’s Doorway is a found-footage horror film set inside a former Magdalene Laundry.
This year, the Film Fleadh debuts a new program dedicated to genre cinema. What the Fleadh?! will showcase independent horror, sci-fi, fantasy and action films from around the globe.
And lest you think we’ve been distracted by the new and shiny, our 2018 programme balances debut films with the latest work from some of our Fleadh favourites. We are delighted to showcase new work from Cathal Black (Five Red Roses – One for Every Syllable of Your Name), Bob Mullan (This Weekend Will Change Your Life) Muayad Alayan (The Reports on Sarah and Saleem) and Madeline Olnek, who marks her third appearance at the Film Fleadh with Wild Nights with Emily and is also the subject of our Director’s Masterclass.
In a milestone year for what was conceived of as a ‘post-colonial film festival,’ it seems appropriate to reassess our relationship with our closest co-production partner, the UK. With Brexit threatening to disrupt existing paradigms of European cinema, we take a look at some of the best new UK fiction and documentary in this year’s country in focus strand, and welcome a delegation of UK producers to the Galway Film Fair to strengthen our spirit of cooperation in the face of division and uncertainty.
Borders and resistance are driving narratives in the current cinematic landscape. Globally, filmmakers are using the power of cinema to speak truth to power. Our Framing Borders programme portrays the real lives of people living within oppressive borders and of refugees seeking sanctuary outside them, in ways the twenty-four hour news cycle cannot.
Our #Resist programme meanwhile, documents the fights worth fighting and the inspiring, everyday people who fight them.
This year we are proud to present a total of twenty short film screenings in our ever growing and increasingly diverse shorts programme. Showcasing the best in homegrown short film, Irish talent and international co-productions from the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Spain, the United States and Pakistan. Our competitive short film programme showcases an exciting mix of drama, documentary and animation, with the winners of the Tiernan MacBride Award for Best Short Drama and the James Horgan Award for Best Short Animation gaining eligibility for Oscar consideration.
The shorts programme provides a platform for established and emerging filmmakers and covers a diverse range of topics. Here at the Fleadh you will find shorts made by students and seasoned directors side by side – from shoe string budgets to bigger budget films.
In addition to screening over seventy short films in a mix of Irish, English and foreign language we are delighted to screen short films funded by the Irish Film Board including the World Premieres of their Short Stories films and IFB Frameworks Animations. Broadening our boarders this year we have invited short filmmakers from across the globe to present their work to Galway audiences. Showcasing three programmes of world shorts and a special screening of shorts from the European Union National Institutes for Culture.
After a bumper turnout last year, we welcome the return of our short film panel for this year’s festival. This panel is dedicated to emerging and established short filmmakers. Following the panel there will be an opportunity for discussion debate and networking for anyone interested in the art and commerce of short filmmaking.
We are proud to present work from Galway based filmmakers in our Way Out West category and we welcome the return of the Galway Film Centre’s One Minute Film Festival. In association with Little Cinema and Galway City of Film we welcome a screening of the winner of the 48 hour film competition. The shorts programmes run every day from Wednesday 11th to Sunday 15th of July.
Welcome to the 30th Galway Film Fleadh. The above is just a sampling of our full programme, visit our website www.galwayfilmfleadh.
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