The 2010 Los Angeles Irish Film Festival opened Thursday, September 29 at the Linwood Dun Theatre in Hollywood and continues through Sunday, October 2 ate The Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.
The invitational Opening Night Gala, at the Linwood Dunn Theater, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, honored renowned Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan with The Steve Brennan Tribute and a special screening of “The Guard” (starring Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle and Fionnula Flanagan). First time feature director John Michael McDonagh’s comedic thriller, “The Guard” is the most successful independent Irish film in Irish box office history. The Gala evening included a special performance by opera singer Judith Mok and pianist Dearbhla Collins.
Friday, September 30, 2011
7.30pm THE KILLING JOKE (Short musical feature) 15mins 2011
Director: Sebastian Lopez
Producers: Juan Pablo Cartagena
Writers: Sebastian Lopez
Cast: Gustavo Marzo, Clarisa Staracci
Edited by: Sabrina Mottino
Music by: Colin Devlin
“The Killing Joke” is a 15-minute suspense/fiction short film about a mysterious woman that finds a red balloon tied up to a curious little box on an eerie derelict street. Using classic elements of suspense and working within a seventies aesthetic, ‘The Killing Joke’ is an action packed film that pays homage to some of the horror movies from that era.
THE SWELL SEASON (Documentary) 91mins 2011 WEST COAST PREMIERE
Directors: Nick August-Perna, Chris Dapkins, Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Producers: Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Cast: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová.
Edited by: Nick August
Most people know Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, the charmingly un-Hollywood actors and singer-songwriters who starred in the film “Once,” for their memorable 2008 Oscar win for Best Original Song (“Falling Slowly”). Yet behind the award was a more complex story of Hansard and Irglová’s onscreen romance becoming reality, and the grueling two-year world music tour that threatened to permanently fracture their relationship. The film explores the upsides and downsides of artistic collaboration, success and love as they follow the Irish musical couple on their difficult yet constantly illuminating journey.
NO JERICHO (Short Music video)
Director: Niall McKay
Editor: John Murphy
Grammy winner Susan McKeown performs No Jericho from her
forthcoming album Belong Accompanied by Ryan McGiver, Eamon O’Leary, Doug
Wieselman & Shahzad Ismail
THE COMMITMENTS (Feature) 118mins 1991
(Paul Bushnell, the music arranger, will be present.)
Director: Alan Parker
Producers: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais
Writers: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais (screenplay) based on the novella by Roddy Doyle. Cast: Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball, Colm Meaney, Glen Hansard, Andrea Corr
A young hustling Dubliner shapes a ragtag bunch of miscreant Irish kids into a full-blown rock’n’soul revue despite their best efforts to self-destruct. The raw talents of the Irish performers imbue Motown soul classics with Celtic heart.
SPOTLIGHT SCREENING Saturday, October 1, 2011 Aero Theatre, Santa Monica
5pm: BYE BYE NOW (Documentary) 15mins 2011
Director: Aideen O’Sullivan, Ross Whitaker.
Producer: Aideen O’Sullivan, Ross Whitaker.
Editor: Andrew Hearne
“Bye Bye Now!” is an amusing, poignant documentary about the fate of the Irish phone box, which has gone from the center of society to the verge of extinction. This short documentary intertwines wonderful anecdotes with the warmest of characters as they recount their memories of the small concrete structure that was so important in rural Ireland.
THE PIPE (Documentary) co-presented by Women in Film International
Q&A with producer Rachel Lysaght to follow screening 81mins 2010
Director: Risteard O’Domhnaill
Producer: Rachel Lysaght
A compelling documentary film four years in the making, “The Pipe” tells the story of the small Rossport community which has taken on the might of Shell Oil and the Irish State. The discovery of gas off this remote coastal village has led to the most dramatic clash of cultures in modern Ireland. The rights of farmers over their fields, and of fishermen to their fishing grounds, has come in direct conflict with one of the world’s most powerful oil companies. When the citizens look to their State to protect their rights, they find that the government has put Shell’s right to lay a pipeline over their own.
“CLASSIC FILMS”
7.30pm DREAMING THE QUIET MAN (Documentary) 90mins 2010 US PREMIERE
Director: Sé Merry Doyle
Producers: Vanessa Gildea, Martina Durac
When it was released ‘The Quiet Man’ became a monster hit all across the world and won Oscars for Best Director and Best Cinematography. Its impact went way beyond the Irish Diaspora and it still resonates with international audiences almost 60 years later. This documentary delves into the psyche of John Ford and his twenty-year struggle to bring his homage to his parent’s homeland to the screen. The film features contributions from commentators and filmmakers including Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese, Jim Sheridan and, exclusively, Maureen O’ Hara.
THE QUIET MAN (Feature) 129mins 1952
Director: John Ford
Producers: John Ford, Merin C. Cooper
Writers: Frank S. Nugent based on a story by Maurice Walsh
Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald
This classic film is the story of a retired American boxer returning to the Irish village where he was born, where he finds love, won five major awards and was nominated for another eight.
“CONTEMPORARY FILM” Sunday, October 2, 2011 Aero Theatre, Santa Monica
5pm: KNUCKLE (Documentary). West Coast Premier.
Q&A with Ian Palmer and James Quinn McDonagh to
follow screening 97min 2011
Director: Ian Palmer
Producers: Teddy Leifer and Ian Palmer
Cast: Ian Palmer (voice), James Quinn McDonagh.
Residing in Ireland, the Travellers are a traditionally nomadic clan with a deep sense of communal pride. In a feat of dogged persistence, documentarian Ian Palmer followed the Travellers for 12 years, becoming close with the people and their traditions, particularly James Quinn McDonagh, the confident if reluctant bare-knuckle defender constantly called upon to fight his cousins.
7:30pm YUKI (Short film) 2011
Director: Jonathan Beer
Producers: Larry Cowan, Brian J. Falconer
Writers: Brian J. Falconer, Jonathan Beer
Cast: Haruka Abe, Junichi Kajioka, Lalor Roddy
Yuki’s world has changed. Without a medical diagnosis for her mother’s mysterious illness, Yuki knows it’s time to face her demons to have any chance of saving her mother.
PARKED (Feature) 90 min 2011
Director: Darragh Byrne
Producers: Jacqueline Kerrin, Dominic Wright
Writers: Ciaran Creagh
Cast: Colm Meaney, Colin Morgan, Milka Alroth
Lonely and beleaguered Fred Daly (Colm Meaney) returns to his native Ireland with no place to call home except his car. When pothead Cathal (Colin Morgan) parks next to him, the two strike up an unlikely friendship. With Cathal’s help, Fred begins to put his life back together little by little, and starts by introducing himself to cute, unusual music teacher Jules.
PENTECOST (Short Film) 11mins 2011
Director: Peter McDonald
Producer: Eimear O’ Kane
Writer: Peter McDonald
Cast: Scott Graham, Andrew Bennett, Michael McElhatton, Eamonn Hunt
Ireland 1977. Eleven-year-old Damian Lynch (Scott Graham) is forced into the toughest decision a young boy could possibly face: satisfy family, friends, church by doing the responsible thing and serve as a last minute replacement altar boy or indulge his own passion for football and his favorite team, Liverpool.
THE RUNWAY (Feature) Q&A with Ian Power follows screening 110mins 2010
Director: Ian Power
Producers: Ian Power, Macdara Kelleher, Brendan McDonald
Writers: Ian Power
Cast: James Cosmo, Kerry Condon, Demián Birchir, Jamie Kierans
“The Runway “is inspired by the true story of a South American pilot who landed his plane near Mallow, in 1983. Against all odds, the people of the town came together to build a runway to get him home and briefly caught the imagination of the nation. It is the story of Paco, a young boy without a father who adopts the pilot and convinces the town to build a runway to get him home.
The Los Angeles Irish Film Festival was asked to participate in Culture Ireland’s “Imagine Ireland,” a program launched this year by the Irish Government, as a celebration of the Irish imagination, in the belief that arts and culture are vital to Ireland’s recovery and the relationship between our two countries. “We are especially proud that Gabriel Byrne, whose documentary “Gabriel Byrne: Stories From Home” was presented by the Los Angeles Irish Festival, is the Cultural Ambassador for Imagine Ireland.” said festival Director, Lisa McLaughlin.
The 2011 Los Angeles Irish Film Festival is co-presented by The American Cinematheque. The Irish Film Board (Bord Scannán na hÉireann), Ireland’s national film agency is a partner of LAIFF. Sponsors include Culture Ireland, The Irish Film Institute, ELMA (European Languages and Movies in America), LA Galaxy, The Huntley Hotel Santa Monica, Kensington Caterers, Santini Wines, Rosemarie McCaffrey, Reel Ireland, Bushmills, Kerrygold, Guinness, MyIrishPride.com, Rosti Chicken, Grafton on Sunset, Living by Lynne Leventen on Montana Avenue, Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau, Tala and Women In Film International. The Shangri-La hotel in Santa Monica is the Closing Night sponsor.
For more information about the festival including the complete line-up, and to purchase tickets to Closing Night and general admission tickets to individual films at LAIFF go to http://www.lairishfilm.com.