San Francisco Irish Film Festival 2012

Description

The 9th annual San Francisco Irish Film Festival invites you to be inspired by this year’s award winning and diverse line-up. The event offers a true taste of contemporary Ireland and brings to you the latest in independent Irish film-making.

The Festival kicks off on Friday evening, September 28th, with an opening night party, co-hosted by the Irish Consulate and Irish Network Bay Area. The party will take place at 6pm at Giordano Bros at 16th and Valencia, with the films beginning at 8:30pm at the Roxie Film Center across the street.

Opening night films include Terry George’s Oscar-winning short, ‘The Shore’ and the acclaimed feature film ‘Dollhouse’, which has already won awards at the Berlin Film Festival and the Odessa International Film Festival.
Saturday’s screenings feature the uplifting documentary ‘Ballymun Lullaby’, and the feature presentation film ‘Jump’, revolving around a group of young people whose lives intertwine on New Year’s Eve in Northern Ireland. The popular Magners & Shorts program will follow with film fans enjoying complimentary Magners cider, while watching a selection of current Irish short film.
Sunday offers more inspiration with Ian Fitzgibbon’s ‘Death of a Superhero’ telling the extraordinary story of a young teenager’s wonderful artistic talent. Sunday’s program also includes the West Coast premiere of ‘Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey’. The Festival concludes on Sunday evening with a screening of the dark and moving, ‘Pilgrim Hill’.

This year we are delighted to welcome two outstanding Irish female directors! ‘Dollhouse’ director, Kirsten Sheridan, and Bernadette director, Lelia Doolan, are this year’s inspirational honorees and will be available for interview during the festival. Sheridan previously directed ‘Disco Pigs’ and ‘Autumn Rush’ and was an Oscar nominee for co-writing “in America” with her father, Jim Sheridan and sister Naomi.
Doolan is a veteran film-maker and leading light on the Irish cultural scene. She will present her insightful documentary, ten years in the making, which profiles Irish Republican civil rights icon, Bernadette Devlin. Both directors will be participating in Q&A sessions following their screenings. Images are available upon request.
For more information about the festival please visit http://www.sfirishfilm.com. Festival schedule and descriptions are listed below and available on the website’s Films page (http://sfirishfilm.com/2012-lineup).
About the SF Irish Film Festival
For the ninth year running, the San Francisco Irish Film Festival has given American and Irish American audiences the opportunity to engage with Irish films, filmmaking talent and culture. It continues to showcase the best in Irish cinema, by celebrating features, documentaries, Irish language films and short films.
In the last few years--in addition to Adam and Paul and Once--the Festival has screened The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Ken Loach)-winner of the Palme D’or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival; Martin McDonagh’s Six Shooter, which received an Academy Award; and Ken Wardorp’s Undressing My Mother, which brought home the European Film Award.

The Festival is supported by the Irish Film Institute, Culture Ireland and the Consulate General of Ireland and made possible by the generous contributions of Magners Irish Cider, The Irish Dairy Board, and the Irish Network of San Francisco.

2012 San Francisco Irish Film Festival film descriptions and schedule:

Friday, 9/28 at 8:30pm - THE SHORE
Dir: Terry George

THE SHORE is the inspiring story of two boyhood best friends divided by 25 years of misunderstanding. Their world and friendship is shattered by the conflict escalating in Northern Ireland and their lives take very different paths. Twenty-five years later, Joe (Ciaran Hinds) returns home from San Francisco seeking to reconnect with his old friend. This Oscar-winning short is equal parts hilarious and poignant and is sure to leave you with a smile on your face.


Friday, 9/28 at 9:00pm - DOLLHOUSE
Dir: Kirsten Sheridan

Join our very special guest, Kirsten Sheridan, at the San Francisco premiere of DOLLHOUSE. Sheridan’s film explores a night in the lives of a group of street teens who break into a house in an upper-class suburb. The break-in quickly moves into a night of frenzy, driven by a series of revelations that will leave lasting marks on each of them. Kirsten Sheridan, who previously directed Disco Pigs and August Rush, will join us after the screening for an exclusive Q & A session.




Saturday, 9/29 at 5pm – BALLYMUN LULLABY
Dir: Frank Berry

BALLYMUN LULLABY is a musical documentary that follows music teacher, Ron Cooney, on his journey to create a collection of music that gives a voice to the young people of working-class Ballymun in Dublin. Your heart will be thoroughly warmed by the inspiring Cooney and his funny and charming students.


Saturday, 9/29 at 7pm – MAGNERS ‘N’ SHORTS

Enjoy complimentary Magners Irish Hard Cider while enjoying the best of this year’s shorts from Ireland, including “The boy in the bubble”, “Angel” and Irish Language film, “an Rinceoir” about the passion of an Irish dancer.


Saturday, 9/29 at 9pm – JUMP
Dir: Kieron J. Walsh

JUMP follows the lives of four twenty-somethings whose lives collide one fateful New Year's Eve amidst the ancient walls of Derry, Northern Ireland in a night of fast talk, accidents and intrigue. As the clock ticks down to midnight and the night’s events fall into place, JUMP weaves an existential portrait of our characters’ lives as their hopes, fears and secrets are revealed.


Sunday, 9/30 at 5:00pm - DEATH OF A SUPERHERO
Dir: Ian Fitzgibbon

Donald is a teenager with extraordinary artistic talents. His future as a graphic novel artist should be bright. As his life is consumed by fantastic daydreams, Donald soon discovers that a very real enemy is trying to kill him. With an unorthodox psychologist teaching Donald to find the light in life in an otherwise dark world, DEATH OF A SUPERHERO tells the story of discovering life, love, and death in this exceptionally honest portrayal of a teenage boy facing his own mortality.


Sunday, 9/30 at 7:00pm - BERNADETTE: NOTES ON A POLITICAL JOURNEY
Dir: Lelia Doolan

The story of Bernadette Devlin McAliskey's remarkable political life is told in this inquisitive documentary. A member of the People's Democracy movement in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, Bernadette Devlin was elected MP for Mid-Ulster when she was 21 years-old and briefly rattled the Wilson government and the Westminster establishment. The archive footage presents her as a firebrand with a gift for public speaking, derided as 'Castro in a miniskirt' by one opponent. Now into her sixties, she remains just as articulate and uncompromising. Acclaimed Director, Lelia Doolan, will join us after the film for a Q & A session. For anyone interested in the history of Northern Ireland, this is an opportunity not to be missed.


Sunday, 9/30 at 9:00pm - PILGRIM HILL
Dir: Gerard Barrett

PILMGRIM HILL captures the plight of bachelor famers in rural Ireland, telling the tragic story of Jimmy Walshe, a middle-aged farmer who lives with his critically ill father. Life has been very tough on Jimmy over the years, but things are about to get worse, as his life hits a very rough patch on and off the farm. This moving and understated film hits themes universal enough to resonat e with audiences everywhere.

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http://www.sfirishfilm.com

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