Irish Film to be Celebrated at San Francisco Irish Film Festival
The San Francisco Irish Film Festival will play host to a celebration of the best in contemporary Irish cinema from 22nd - 25th September including the Oscar winning ONCE, the Oscar nominated animation THE SECRET OF KELLS along with THE RUNWAY, PARKED, PYJAMA GIRLS and LOTUS EATERS.
Opening night kicks off with a screening of the light-hearted comedy THE RUNWAY, written and directed by Ian Power who will be in attendance at the screening.
Inspired by a true story, THE RUNWAY tells the story of a South American pilot who crashed his plane in a field near an Irish town in 1983, and how the community came together to fix his plane and build a runway to get him home. Starring Demian Bichir (Che), Kerry Condon (This Must Be The Place, Rome) and James Cosmo (Outcast), the film scooped the Best Irish Feature award at its world premiere at last year's Galway Film Fleadh.
PARKED, written by Ciaran Creagh and directed by Darragh Byrne, stars Colm Meaney as a man who lives in his nondescript car in a car park by the coast. The film was selected to open the Irish Film Festival Boston earlier this year, has screened in Rotterdam and Torino in Italy and has been officially selected for the Busan International Film Festival in Korea next month.
Alexandra McGuiness' first feature LOTUS EATERS stars Antonia Campbell-Hughes as an ex model and struggling actress on a path of self-destruction. Written by Alexandra with Brendan Grant, the film shot on location in Wicklow, Westmeath and London last year. Produced by Fastnet Films, it premiered at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year and has been selected for the BFI London Film Festival.
Maya Derrington's documentary PYJAMA GIRLS examines the phenomenon of girls who wear pyjamas as daywear, a topic in Dublin that generates controversy. Produced by Nicky Gogan for Still Films the film slips behind the confrontational façade, following two teenagers from Ballyfermot, their families, friends and the claustrophobic urban spaces they inhabit, touching on profound challenges of drugs, family breakdown, and social exclusion they experience.
San Francisco audiences will get another chance to see John Carney's Oscar winning ONCE at the festival. The modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova as a busker and an immigrant, who fall in love over an eventful week, as they write, rehearse and record a number of songs. It was produced by Samson Films with funding from Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board.
Tomm Moore's Oscar nominated animation THE SECRET OF KELLS will screen on Saturday. Featuring the voice talent of Brendan Gleeson and the late Mick Lally, the film tells the story of an orphan named Brendan who is set the task of completing The Book of Kells, calling him to a new life of creativity and imagination. Produced by Cartoon Saloon, the film has picked up a host of awards including the Audience Award in Annecy, and the Best European Feature at the British Animation Awards. It also received nominations for Best Feature Animation at both the prestigious Annie Awards and the Academy Awards® last year.
Once, The Secret Of Kells, The Runway, Parked, Pyjama Girls and Lotus Eaters were all produced with funding from Bord Scannán na hEireann/the Irish Film Board.
Other films that will screen over the weekend include I Went Down, In The Name Of The Father, Hunger and The Swell Season.
The San Francisco Irish Film Festival presents the very best in contemporary Irish cinema, celebrating everything from features to documentaries to Irish language films and will take place from the 22rd -25th September.
For more information see the official website http://sfirishfilm.com/
About PARKED
PARKED follows Fred Daly, who lives in his nondescript car in a car park by the coast. He is shut off from the world, until the ever-positive drug addict Cathal parks his little yellow car beside Fred's. Starring Colm Meaney, Colin Morgan and Milka Ahlroth, the film was produced by Jacqueline Kerrin and Dominic Wright for Ripple World Pictures and Aleksi Bardy for Helsinki-filmi, with finance from BSÉ/IFB and Finnish Film Foundation.
About THE RUNWAY
THE RUNWAY was produced by Macdara Kelleher, Brendan McDonald and Bernard Michaux for Fastnet Films and Lucil Films and was funded by BSÉ/IFB, Luxembourg Film Fund, Film I Vast, CIAV and Quickfire Films.
About THE SECRET OF KELLS
The Irish animation THE SECRET OF KELLS THE SECRET OF KELLS was financed by the IFB, BAI, France 2 Cinema, Eurimages, Media programme, Canal+ Cine Cinema, Conseil General de la Charente, Piste Rouge, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté Française de Belgique et des Télédistributeurs Wallons, Promimage and Wallimage.