Magner's Boston Irish Film Festival
November 9-11, 2007
Brattle Theatre and Harvard Film Archive
$8-10

If you haven't got enough Irish in your everyday slang, be sure to check out the 2007 Boston Irish Film Festival (BIFF) for a strong shot of Irish flavor. This year focuses on four strong feature films: The Front Line, On Broadway, Short Order, and The Tiger's Tale, but features several other Irish films as well. View the trailers and schedule on the BIFF website or learn more about these features and other Irish films after the jump.

Friday, November 9

The Front Line
BIFF Award Winner: Best Feature
Directed by David Gleeson [2006, 93 min.]
7:00 p.m., Brattle Theatre, $10
with director David Gleeson live in person!

In The Front Line, a Congolese expat with a mysterious past is granted asylum in Ireland and is later joined by refugee woman and her 9 year old son who he claims are his family. Employed as a security guard for a Dublin bank, all seems well until a ruthless gang kidnaps Joe’s family. One of the most acclaimed Irish films of recent years, David Gleeson’s exhilarating heist film is both a compelling character study and an unflinching look at contemporary Dublin.

Plays with Deep Breaths, BIFF Award Winner for Best Short Fiction. Directed by P.J. Dillon, the movie's screening features actor Allen Leech in person.

Award Winner's Reception
9:30 p.m., Tommy Doyle's Pub & Grill (96 Winthrop St., Harvard Square)
Meet and mingle with award winners. Free and open to the public.

Saturday, November 10th

BIFF Educational Program
The Green Grass of Home: Irish-American Cinema in the 1950s
12:30 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 2, Free and open to public

This session will explore thorough the use of clips and discussion how American cinema represented Irishness in the post-war period. Tony Tracy, Associate Director of the Huston School of Film & Digital Media, will discuss how the movies of the period moved progressively away from realistic depictions of Irish in America to the more romanticized and nostalgic visions of The Quiet Man (1952), Captain Lightfoot (1954) and The Search for Bridie Murphy (1956) before finally giving up on any reality at all, at all, in Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959).

Bloody Sunday: A Derry Diary
Directed by Margo Harkin [2007, 90 min.]
2:00 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 2, $8

On 30th January 1972 the British Army shot dead thirteen unarmed civilians on a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland. Confidence in British justice evaporated among the victims’ families when Lord Widgery exonerated the soldiers and blighted the reputation of those killed and wounded. Filmmaker Margo Harkin follows the families’ long search for the truth at the new Tribunal of Inquiry into "Bloody Sunday" held in Derry and London over a 6-year period. The result is a compassionate and heartfelt film, charged with moral outrage and pointed political commentary.

Short Order
Directed by Anthony Byrne [2005, 100 min.]
3:00 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 1, $8

Playing out over one long night in an unidentified restaurant, Short Order centers on short order cook Fifi (Emma de Caunes) – whose culinary skills are such that her food can cause orgasms! Fifi, however, is in a rut and is in desperate need to escape her humdrum life. Short Order is a wonderfully colorful, funny and sexy confection, exuberantly directed by Anthony Byrne and acted with considerable charm by an eclectic cast that includes Vanessa Redgrave and John Hurt.

The Hunger Strike
BIFF Award Winner: Best Documentary
Directed by Margo Harkin [2007, 60 min.]
4:00 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 2, $8

Featuring director Margo Harkin live in person!

Of all the volatile periods in Northern Ireland's recent history, the Hunger Strikes is one of the most impassioned and significant historically. It was a key event in the relationship between the British Government and Irish Republicans, a unifying force for nationalists and a focal point for world opinion. It brought Sinn Fein into electoral politics and is largely responsible for the strong electoral position they have achieved today. The 25th anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands took place on 5th May 2006. Filmmaker Margo Harkin revisits the dramatic story of how and why Sands and 9 others died a death so extreme it convulsed politics in Northern Ireland and Britain and drew world wide attention to the one of the most extreme protests in prison history. A painful and memorable film, The Hunger Strike is the definitive telling of this tragic period in Anglo-Irish history.

Cré Na Cille (Graveyard Clay)
Directed by Robert Quinn [2007, 93 min.]
5:00 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 1, $8

Caitriona Phadin dies and takes with her to the grave all the rage and hatred that had consumed her while living. The primary source of Catriona’s bitterness is her sister Nell, who long ago had stolen from her the man she loved. But death has done little to assuage Catriona’s anger and in the graveyard clay of Connemara she reflects on her life’s disappointments and looks forward to her still-living sister’s downfall. Based on the celebrated novel by Mairtin O Cadhain, Robert Quinn’s literate translation is a fiercely funny black comedy, wonderfully acted and beautifully shot.

No Go - The Free Derry Story
Directed by Vinny Cunningham and narrated by Bernard Hill [2007, 59 min.]
6:00 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 2, $8

On the 14th of August 1969 the British Army were deployed onto Northern Ireland’s streets for the first time, to relieve an exhausted RUC in the wake of the Bogside riots. Confronted with a ring of barricades manned by rioters, the troops were faced with a difficult dilemma – attempt to remove the barricades and provoke a confrontation, or leave the barricades intact and allow the Bogside to remain beyond official control. Filmmaker Vinny Cunningham confronts the actions of the British army head on in this powerful follow-up to his 2004 film Battle of the Bogside, which screened here in 2005.

Plays with Frongoch, directed by Rosie Nic Cionnaith [2007, 51 min.]. After the 1916 Rising, 1800 Irishmen were found guilty of insurrection and interned in Frongoch, a now forgotten Welsh prison camp. Dubbed “Britain’s biggest blunder,” Frongoch brought together the cream of a generation of revolutionary nationalists and laid the seeds for the War of Independence when Michael Collins brought the Empire to its knees and established the Irish Free State. Rosie Nic Cionnaith visually striking Irish-language docudrama blends archival footage with dramatic recreations to tell the story of Frongoch and the role it played in contemporary Irish history.

On Broadway
BIFF Award Winner: Director's Choice
Directed by Dave McLaughlin [2007, 98 min.]
7:00 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 1, $10

Writer/Director Dave McLaughlin live in person!

Following the death of his beloved uncle, budding playwright Jack O'Toole becomes determined to write and stage a play about his Boston Irish family. Initially Jack’s efforts meet with opposition from those about him, particularly his father Martin and cousin Billy... Writer/director Dave McLaughlin has made a warm, funny and ultimately moving film - a loving valentine to the Boston Irish.



Sunday, November 11th

BIFF Educational Program
Contemporary Trends in Irish Cinema
12:30 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 1, Free and open to the public

Tony Tracy, Associate Director of the Huston School of Film & Digital Media, will discuss the kinds of films being made in Ireland in recent years providing insight into the prevailing themes and issues and explaining the current funding and production structures available to young Irish filmmakers.

Blind Vision
Directed by Brendan J. Byrne [2007, 72 min.]
2:00 p.m, Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 1, $8

Richard Moore’s world went dark on May 4th, 1972, when he was struck by a stray rubber bullet on his way home from school in Derry. Over 30 years later a Californian doctor thinks that he can restore Richard’s sight, but Richard is unsure he wants the operation.

Documentary Program
3:00 p.m, Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 2, $8

Saol An Maor
Dir. Sean O Cualain, 26 min.
Sean O Cualain’s award-winning documentary examines one of Ireland’s most terrible
scandals – the pollution of its waters (and destruction of its fish stocks) by
state-sponsored activities – and profiles the man who spoke out and made it known.

Up In Smoke
Directed by Gerald Fitzgibbon and Brian Scully, 25 min.
An entertaining examination of the introduction of the public smoking ban in Ireland
in March 2004, Up In Smoke effectively captures the progression of this radical public
health measure and its surprising success in a country renowned for its pub culture.

My Heroin Hell - Rachel's Story
Directed by Alison Reilly, 44 min.
Broadcaster and filmmaker Alison O’Reilly tells the astonishing story of Rachel Keogh,
a 27-year-old heroin addict from Dublin fighting to overcome her addition.

Shorts Program
4:00 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 1, $8
Admission: $8

The Wednesdays
Directed by Conor Ferguson, 14 min.
Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien have been prisoners of their old age for too long. But the chance discovery of a stolen quantity of hallucinogenic drugs provides all the escape they need. Conor Ferguson directs with a fine balance of comedy and poignancy.

A Dose of the Guilts
Directed by Bryan Baker, 7 min.
A one-night stand with a wealthy woman puts a man in an uncomfortable position . . . when her husband walks in on the scene. Writer/director and co-star Bryan Baker provides a novel spin on this familiar scenario.

Pilgrim
Directed by Matthew Darragh, 4 min.
Matthew Darragh’s award-winning short animation features a walking fridge lost in a desert and determined to keep its cool. Pilgrim is a funny, charming and imaginative CG short rivaling the best of Pixar.

The Cleaner
Directed by Noel Kearns, 13 min.
Stefan, an immigrant cleaner working in a London hospital, is asked to translate for an injured man who has been rushed to Accident & Emergency. But Stefan recognizes the man as a brutal warlord from his homeland.

Hesitation
Directed by Virginia Gilbert, 17 min.
A middle-aged man, holidaying at a resort, is repeatedly disturbed by a spirited French boy. What begins as an irritation, however, mounts uncontrollably into an irrational hatred with chilling consequences.

I Love You Suzie
Directed by Fiona Ashe, 3 min.
A man sets off with a bouquet of flowers for his beloved Suzie, but will he have the resolve to deliver them? A charming short, directed by Fiona Ashe from a script by Trish Groves.

Another Run Through
Directed by Bobby Thompson, 23 min.
Movie critic and bartender Martin Kelly looks back over an 18-month relationship with his live-in girlfriend Leah. A lighthearted look at love, jealously, commitment and the nature of male-female relationships from local filmmaker Bobby Thompson.

Documentary Program II
5:00 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 2, $8

Pigeon Heads
Directed by Adrian McCarthy, 26 min.
Filmmaker Adrian McCarthy takes an affectionate and insightful look at Dublin’s obsessive pigeon fanciers as they make preparations for a major race.

Making Pictures
Directed by Barry McCarthy, 15 min.
Filmmaker Barry McCarthy documents the internationally renowned Irish painter Declan O’Mahony at work. The result is a spellbinding journey of brilliant color, tactile surfaces and the play of natural light.

The McDonagh Pictures
Directed by Ian Palmer, 25 min.
Ian Palmer’s award-winning film chronicles the history of an Irish Traveler family as captured in the family’s collection of photographs. Made over the course of a decade, The McDonagh Pictures is an honest and intimate portrait of a way of life that is all but gone.

Sin Sceil Eile: Tell Me a Story
Directed by Catherine Donahue, 24 min.
Amidst social change in Ireland locals in a small village in Co. Kerry react to the Celtic Tiger and the changes that it has made to their lifestyle and culture. Filmmaker Catherine Donahue offers fascinating insight into how Ireland’s longstanding traditions are being lost in the face of profound social change.

KM64: Birth of a Skatepark
Directed by David Keating [2007, 70 min.]
6:00 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 1, $8

David Keating’s exhilarating documentary tells the story of ex-NFK pro-footballer Justin Amour who quit his job selling mobile generators to build one of the world’s biggest and most extreme skateparks . . . in a chili field in Mexico. Keating’s camera captures all the excitement of extreme skateboarding but ultimately this is a story about faith, synchronicity, and about doing what it was you set out to do – no matter how crazy it may seem.

Ri An Fhocail
Directed by Sean O Cualain, Macdara O Curraidhin [2007, 52 min.]
7:15 p.m, Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 2, $8

Connemara-born Mairtin O Cadhain was the most acclaimed author of 20th century prose in Irish. He is best known for his major novel Cre na Cille (the film adaptation of which also screens at this year’s festival), which has been translated into English as Graveyard Clay. With terrific use of archival footage from Connemara and Dublin in the 40s and 50s, Ri an Fhocail profiles a giant among Irish writers whose work continues to demand attention and recognition.

Plays with Padraic O Conaire, Directed by Johnny White [2007, 52 min.]. Padraic O Conaire is one of Ireland’s best known yet least understood of writers. The drunken dreamer, the merry prankster, generous to a fault, selfish in the extreme – such is the myth that surrounds O Conaire. Filmmaker Johnny White delves behind the contradictions and hyperbole to find the truth behind the revolutionary socialist, nationalist, social critic and writer – but can we ever know the real Padraic O Conaire?

The Tiger's Tail
Directed by John Boorman [2007, 103 min.]
7:30 p.m., Harvard Film Archive, Theatre 1, $8

John Boorman’s savage indictment of Celtic Tiger Ireland features Brendan Gleeson (2006’s Excellence Award honoree) in the dual role of a wealthy Dublin businessman and his sinister down-and-out doppelganger who steals his identity. Gleeson is terrific in both roles, proving once again that he’s one of Ireland’s finest actors. The director of such classics as Point Blank (1968), Deliverance (1972) and Hope and Glory (1987), tackles his first Irish subject since 1998’s acclaimed The General (which also starred Gleeson) and the result is a clever, twisted, surprisingly fun tale of corruption, greed and the social costs of Ireland’s so-called economic miracle.

Closing Night Reception
9:30 p.m., Jurys Hotel Boston, Free to Public
Join us back at Jurys Hotel Boston (350 Stuart Street, Boston) to relax and unwind after what will undoubtedly have been a very eventful (not to mention exhausting) weekend.

Film descriptions and trailers from official festival website.