Irish Night at Mostly British Film • Feb 18
A Fanatic Heart, 6.30pm, SF Vogue Theatre
Onstage interview with filmmaker Sir Bob Geldof at 8:00 pm.
In this winning documentary, Irish singer, songwriter and political activist Sir Bob Geldof traces W.B. Yeats’ life, from his earliest family trips to Sligo – which awakened a lifelong love of fairy tales and folklore – to international fame as the poet laureate of an emerging Ireland, to his Nobel Prize and role as Senator in the Irish Free State. Bringing his own infatuating passion to the subject, Sir Bob shows how Yeats led the way in imagining a new Ireland into being after the Famine and, after centuries of oppression, gave the people of Ireland back a story they could believe in – and fight for. A captivating tale of mythology, nation-building, insurgency and disillusion, the film is above all a story about how poetry and language can shape our world. Sting, Bono, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy and Colin Farrell are among those who perform Yeats’ poems. Ireland 2016 (100 minutes) tickets
ICBA SPECIAL! WIN TWO TICKETS – sign up a friend or family member by Feb 5th and enter to win 2 tickets.
The Young Offenders, 4:30 pm, SF Vogue Theatre
Packed with warmth and wit, this charming film, inspired by the true story of Ireland’s largest cocaine seizure in 2007, is a comic road movie about two clueless best friends — track-suited Irish teenagers who, though lazy, impulsive and ignorant remain endlessly lovable. Making their way through the scenic Cork countryside on stolen bicycles in pursuit of one missing barrel of cocaine, our heroes take us on a perfectly ludicrous adventure. Ireland 2016 (83 minutes) tickets
ICBA SPECIAL! WIN TWO TICKETS – sign up a friend or family member by Feb 5th and enter to win 2 tickets.
The Lodgers, 9:30 pm, SF Vogue Theatre
This is a gothic ghost story about orphaned twins Edward and Rachel who share a crumbling manor in 1920s rural Ireland. Though isolated, they are not alone. They share the house with unseen entities that control them with three absolute rules: in bed with doors locked by midnight; never allow anyone across the threshold; never permanently leave the house. On the dawn of their 18th birthday, Rachel experiences a sexual awakening with a young Irishman returned from the war, and within him finds a kindred spirit – and the possibility of a life beyond the estate. Ireland 2017 (92 minutes) tickets
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Irish Film at SF IndieFest • Feb 1-15
Between Land and Sea, Feb 7th & 11th @ Roxie SF
Director Ross Whitaker
West Coast Premiere of an observational documentary about the big wave surf community of an Irish surf town. Get ready for an adrenaline high and take a plunge into the ice cold waters of the North Atlantic with this thoroughly engaging and visually stunning portrait of life at land’s end. Living in tune with nature far from busy urban environments is massively challenging but ultimately rewarding in this immersive portrait of a people and a place.
Wednesday February 7th, 7:00 pm at Roxie Theater, Sunday February 11, 2:00 pm at Roxie Theater tickets
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Maze, Feb 11 & 15 @ Roxie SF
Director Stephen Burke
Northern California Premiere of a prison thriller inspired by the true events of the infamous 1983 prison breakout of 38 IRA prisoners from ‘the most secure prison in Europe,’ the HMP Maze, an inmate and revolutionary develops a complicated friendship with the prison warden. Or is it just a part of the plan?
Upon its release last year in the UK and Ireland, many people worried the film would glorify the prisoners and the moment in history became controversial anew.
FROM BBC NEWS: Republicans, with a sense of pride, hold it up as their Great Escape; Unionists recall how one prison officer was killed and others were so seriously injured or traumatised that their lives were effectively ruined.
With its warders backed up by armed soldiers and its distinctively-shaped ‘H’ blocks, purpose built to house Northern Ireland’s feared paramilitaries, HMP Maze became an instantly recognisable feature on the violent landscape of the Troubles.
It stood as another reminder of how things in Northern Ireland were not the same as in the rest of the UK.
–Bears Fonte
Sunday February 11, 9:15 pm at Roxie Theater, Thursday February 15, 9:15 pm at Roxie Theater tickets
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2017 was a great year for Irish film in the Bay Area. Here are some of the films that came our way:
A Date for Mad Mary •
Emerald City •
Rocky Ros Muc •
SF Irish Film Fest. Sep 21-23. Visit sfirishfilm.com for updates and tickets
School Life • Opera Plaza
Directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane, this intimate and touching documentary presents a portrait of two educators who take on that “In Loco Parentis” role at the Headfort boarding school in Kells, Ireland.
School Life (formerly In Loco Parentis) has had rave reviews since its IDFA and Sundance premieres, and has picked up awards at the 60th San Francisco International Film Festival (Jury Prize), Docville (Best Feature) and Visions du Reel (Prix du Public/Audience Award). The film was acquired by Magnolia Pictures after Sundance.
40th Mill Valley Film Festival • October 5-15
Song of Granite
Song of Granite is a lyrical journey through the life of traditional Irish folk singer Joe Heaney. Blending exquisitely shot narrative scenes with archival performances by its celebrated subject, this unusual biopic captures the profound beauty and melancholy of Heaney’s sean nós style, as well as the changing times he lived through. In English and Gaelic with English subtitles. Tickets
Saturday, Oct. 7 at 3:45 PM at Smith Rafael Film Center
Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 6 PM at Lark Theater
A Nation Holds Its Breath (featured in Shorts Program)
The Nation Holds Its Breath plays as part of MVFF’s 5@5 It’s No Game Shorts Films. On the day of the most important football match in Irish history, a young father to be is torn between witnessing the miracle of childbirth and witnessing the miracle of reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup. Tickets
Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 9:15 PM at Smith Rafael Film Center
Thursday, Oct. 12 at 2:30 PM at CinéArts Sequoia
Visit MVFF festival website for updates on dates/times.A Tribute to Ethen Hawke: Maudie • (event has passed)
Irish Films Shown in Bay Area 2017
The Journey •
In 2006 the Democratic Union Party and Sinn Féin met for the first time in peace talks to discuss a ceasefire after 40 years of bloodshed. In one corner is Ian Paisley (Timothy Spall), the deeply conservative British loyalist; in the other is Martin McGuinness (Colm Meaney), a former Irish Republican Army leader who has devoted his life to the cause of Irish reunification. Opposites in every way, the two men at first seem to have little chance of ever finding common ground. But over the course of an impromptu, detour-filled car ride through the Scottish countryside, each begins to see the other less as an enemy, and more as an individual—a breakthrough that promises the possibility that simple humanity can overcome political division. John Hurt, Freddie Highmore and Toby Stephens co-star.
A Date for Mad Mary, Frameline Festival June 2017
Written and directed by Darren Thornton, this feature set in Drogheda, Ireland, is a sweet and melancholic film about letting go of the past — in order to make room for the future.
Handsome Devil, Frameline Festival June 2017
An unlikely yet authentic bond develops between two teenage boys at an Irish boarding school, in this charming, rugby-centric dramedy from talented Irish writer-director John Butler.
Maudie
Stricken with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Maud (Sally Hawkins) faces rejection from her own family in 1930s Nova Scotia. But she finds acceptance in the home of another outsider, curmudgeonly fishmonger Everett Lewis, who hires her to be his housekeeper. Aisling Walsh’s drama spans 35 years, depicting the growth of Maud’s unexpected career and her relationship with a difficult husband.
San Francisco Irish Film Festival Documentary Film Fest, March 2017
Coming Home
Coming Home is a feature length documentary by Dublin based filmmaker Cathal Kenna. It follows a selection of five Irish emigrants on their journeys as they return to and depart from Ireland. The concept of home and what it means to different people is at the heart of this intimate portrayal of Irish emigrant life. 1hr 23 mins
A Fanatic Heart
Musician and advocate Bob Geldof examines the life and work of one of the 20th century’s greatest poets, William Butler Yeats. 1hr 38 mins
How to Defuse a Bomb
The extraordinary untold story of how an NYPD bomb disposal expert played a key role in helping defuse the decades old “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. 1 hr 30 mins
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Director: Aisling Walsh. Stricken with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Maud (Sally Hawkins) faces rejection from her own family in 1930s Nova Scotia. But she finds acceptance in the home of another outsider, curmudgeonly fishmonger Everett Lewis, who hires her to be his housekeeper. In his home, she blossoms as an artist, the decorative touches she adds to everyday surfaces like cookie sheets and wallboard eventually garnering her a reputation as one of Canada’s best-known folk artists. Aisling Walsh’s drama spans 35 years, depicting the growth of her unexpected career and her relationship with a difficult husband. Despite her disability and her relationship struggles, Maud’s spirit remains indomitable. Hawkins is unforgettable as an irrepressible woman who can find an upside in the most trying circumstances. Matching her is Hawke, who imbues his difficult character with gruff charm. The difference between this odd couple is night and day. Nevertheless, they somehow fit. As Maud says, “We’re like a pair of old socks.”
April 8, 3:30 p.m. YBCA Theater, San Francisco
In Loco Parentis • (event has passed)
Directors: Neasa Ní Chianáin, David Rane. “In loco parentis” is Latin for “in the place of a parent,” and Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane’s intimate and touching documentary presents a portrait of two educators who take on that role. At the Headfort boarding school in picturesque Kells, Ireland, John and Amanda Leyden have devoted 45 years to educating children. Passionate yet tolerant Amanda teaches English and oversees a performance of Hamlet that manages to coax humor out of the tragic play. John teaches Latin and rules the band room, where his irony and teasing as he teaches his young charges to perform The Troggs’ “Wild Thing” accentuates the deep and committed bond he has with them. The level of individual attention and the profound concern the Leydens have for their students, lead to some remarkable developmental transformations as the children journey from being homesick and afraid to confident young people, tearful upon realizing that school is over and they must go home. For elderly John and Amanda, how much longer they can continue teaching is a lingering question. At a time when the American educational system is under threat and classes get larger rather than smaller, In Loco Parentis (School Life) is a charming and idealistic picture of what education can be when the needs of the students come first. –Gustavus Kundahl
April 14, 2017 6:00 p.m. YBCA Screening Room April 17, 2017 6:00 p.m. Roxie Theater Tickets
Watch film trailer
Spotlight on New Irish Film • Feb 19
The Mostly British Film Festival’s Irish Spotlight returns to the San Francisco Vogue Theater with a full slate of new, Irish film.
This year’s program includes the award-winning MAMMAL, starring Rachel Griffiths and newcomer Barry Keoghan, about an unorthodox relationship between a grieving mother and a homeless Irish youth; the international festival hit HANDSOME DEVIL, an energetic and charming contemporary coming-of-age story set in a midlands boarding school;
Also screening will be TWICE SHY a bold, yet nuanced, “road movie” (featuring Irish favorite Pat Shortt in a supporting role) that takes an unflinching look at the challenges of young romance at the crossroads of adult life – including the decision whether to keep an unplanned pregnancy, a topic still risky to explore in a film that no-doubt courts a wide audience at home and abroad.
The three films in this years IRISH SPOTLIGHT each share a thoughtful ability to “start a conversation” – that they do this uniquely, with the skill and resonance of the best of today’s international cinema, make this years IRISH SPOTLIGHT one to save the evening for.
Part of the 9th annual Mostly British Film Festival (Feb. 16-23, 2017), The IRISH SPOTLIGHT is co-presented by the SF Irish Film Festival and the Consulate General of Ireland, and takes place at Vogue Theatre, 3290 Sacramento St., SF.
More information at www.mostlybritish.org
Irish Culture Bay Area Special: Enter To Win Two Tickets to Any Performance at the Mostly British Film Festival (excluding opening night). Sign up two friends as new subscribers and enter to win tickets. Email names here
13th Annual San Francisco Irish Film Festival – Sept 22-24th
Delancey Street Theater, SF. On Thursday, Sep. 22, the opening night film of the 13th Annual San Francisco Irish Film Festival is “Sing Street,” directed by John Carney. The film, by the director of “Once”, is about a boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escaping his strained family life by starting a band. The film is a heart-melting adolescent romance that gives teenage garage bands everywhere a better name
Friday evening, September 23, the festival features “Short Stories – Tall Tales” – a showcase of Irish Short Film curated by Richard O’Connell. The shorts program includes the 2016 Oscar winner, “Stutterer”, directed by Benjamin Cleary.
A free children’s program takes place Saturday, September 24. This year’s program includes a short film followed by “Mickeybo and Me”, a classic film that tells the story of two boys who become friends at the start of the Troubles in 1970.
The evening program on September 24 begins with a screening of a short 1916 documentary, followed by feature documentary “Atlantic” by Risteard O’ Domhnaill. Atlantic follows the fortunes of three small fishing communities as they struggle to maintain their way of life in the face of mounting economic and ecological challenges.
The festival closes with a special treat for Gaelic lovers, with “An Klondike”, which tells the story of Tom, Seamus and Padraig Connolly, three brothers from Rosmuc, Co. Galway, who strike out for the gold fields of the Yukon in search of their fortune. The film is a bilingual production, with subtitles.
For info and tickets (available September 1st) visit SF Irish Film
2016 Bay Area Irish Film Screenings
(event has passed) Older Than Ireland is a landmark Irish documentary, which looks at 100 years of life as seen through the eyes of 30 remarkable Irish centenarians, aged 100-113, including Ireland’s oldest citizen on record, Kathleen Snavely (113) and Ireland’s oldest ever man, Luke Dolan (108).
The film has won various awards including Best Documentary at The Irish Times Ticket Awards and at the Galway Film Fleadh.
Opera Plaza Cinema, 601 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102
New York Times – “Delightful…. It’s often said that the Irish, blessed with the gift of gab, can be splendid raconteurs. You’ll find generous evidence to that effect here. And a bit of poetry as well.”
The Lobster
Colin Farrell stars in The Lobster, a film set in a dystopian near future, where single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, and are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods. It was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and won the Jury Prize. Bay Area Screenings
Brooklyn
Directed by John Crowley. Where is home? It’s the burning question at the heart of every immigrant story. For Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), the solo journey from Ireland to America is both a search for home and for self. Young, smart, and industrious, Eilis is also humble, tentative, and homesick. On her own in 1950s New York, having left her mother and sister Rose behind, she struggles with conflicting feelings of hope and loss—the intoxicating possibilities of her new world versus the familial comfort of the old. Inevitably, young men and romance factor into the equation, but Eilis’s choices are, ultimately, hers to make. With extraordinary subtlety, Ronan radiates exquisitely from scene to scene, conveying every nuance of emotion Eilis must endure. Written by Nick Hornby from Colm Tóibín’s bestselling novel, Brooklyn is a masterful work of storytelling that transcends the traditional tale of the poor immigrant making it in the big city. This is life, pure and profound.
Room
Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, an adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Emma Donoghue, was awarded the Grolsch People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September. Brie Larson won a 2016 Oscar for Actress in a Leading Role for her role as Ma in Room.
Jack is five. He lives with Ma in Room. They can cook, exercise, read books, watch TV, sing songs, and “Do Scream.” Everything in Room is real; everything else is just TV. Room is Jack’s whole world. Until it’s not. Room is based on Emma Donoghue’s bestseller, which is told from Jack’s viewpoint. Fans of the novel take note: The film achieves the book’s intensity and emotional impact. Donoghue adapted her own work, and between her script and director Lenny Abrahamson’s attention to detail and excellent eye for framing, the story transforms for the screen and retains the immediacy of the boy’s experience. Jacob Tremblay is mesmerizing as Jack and the phenomenal Brie Larson conveys Ma’s complexity and emotional balancing act with the smallest change of expression, pause, or measured breath. Together they embody the incomparable bond between mother and child and bring to life this riveting story about defining one’s own place
Film Screening, Ninth St. SF • October 25
UNAFF SCREENING SESSION 11: HOW TO DEF– USE A BOMB: THE PROJECT CHILDREN STORY (Ireland/UK/US, 90 min)
The untold story of how—over a forty-year period—an NYPD cop brought over twenty-three thousand children from the worst areas of the troubles in Northern Ireland to America for a summer of getting away from it all, not only winning their hearts and minds, but also influencing American politicians and contributing to winning peace in Northern Ireland. In 1975 Denis Mulcahy—an Irish Immigrant—decided he couldn’t stand idly by whilst Northern Ireland blew up on his nightly news bulletin. Along with his family and neighbours in small town New York he started a scheme that would ultimately see twenty-three thousand children escape the worst of the violence and in the process discover they had more in common with the ‘enemy’ at home than they thought. From the seemingly intractable conflict of the early seventies to the signing of an historic agreement in the late nineties, we chart the incredible story of how one man’s visionary approach to reconciliation paved the way for peace in Northern Ireland. more
Irish Film at Sundance 2016
Viva
Irish director Paddy Breathnach from Dublin (Shrooms (2007), Blow Dry (2001) and I Went Down (1997)) has made a new Spanish language drama, Viva (2015) which was selected by Ireland for Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film.
Viva, which was primarily filmed in Cuba with some Irish shooting, is the story of Jesus, a young man growing up in Havana, who works as a hair and make-up artist for drag acts. His secret desire is to perform on stage, but he must choose between pursuing his dream and reconnecting with his father, who is newly released from prison.
A Coat Made Dark (short)
Jack O’Shea is the writer and director of A Coat Made Dark. Since graduating from the National Film School in Dublin, Ireland, he has specialized in classical hand-drawn techniques for design and animation, providing an inventive approach and offbeat imagery for music videos and film. In A Coat Made Dark two burglars strike it rich after stealing a mysterious coat. So begins this darkly comic tale, in which Midnight, an anthropomorphized dog, and his human servant Peter struggle for power, courtesy of the coat.
Films That Came Our Way 2015
Steve Jobs Movie – Spot the Locals
Danny Boyle’s long-gestating biopic of the late technology guru and Apple founder has Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender in the lead role, and nominated for an Oscar. Boyle directs the film, simply titled Steve Jobs, from a script by Aaron Sorkin, based on the biography by Walter Isaacson. The cast includes Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Katherine Waterston, and Michael Stuhlbarg. The film was shot, in part, on location in San Francisco, so keep an eye out for familiar faces. Never know who you might see.
You’re Ugly Too (Mill Valley Film Festival in October.)
Fresh from critical acclaim at this year’s Berlin and Edinburgh Film Festivals, up-and-coming director Mark Noonan’s compassionate feature debut about an uncle and his young niece grieving the loss of a loved one offers a fresh take on Irish cinema. Set in the Midlands, Will (Game of Thrones‘s Aidan Gillen) is temporarily released from prison to care for his newly orphaned niece, Stacey (Lauren Kinsella). They take up residence in a caravan park, piquing the interest of their international neighbors. While Will fancies himself the responsible adult, it’s Stacey who does the majority of caretaking. When a secret in Will’s past threatens to destroy their new life, they must come to accept their perfectly flawed relationship. Gillen is in fine form, but it’s newcomer Kinsella who steals the show.
Origins of Halloween
Dessie Baker’s bi-lingual film about the origins of Halloween recently won Best Short Documentary Award at the Underground Film Festival in Cork, Ireland.
Spiorad na Samhna — Origins of Halloween from Dessie Baker on Vimeo.
San Francisco Irish Film Festival September 17-19
(event has passed) This year’s program included “Patrick’s Day”, “Song of the Sea”, “One Million Dubliners” and “Glassland” as well as the ever popular “Short Stories, Tall Tales” shorts program. Visit SF Irish Film website
Earlier this Year:
Jimmy’s Hall
In 1921 Jimmy Gralton’s sin was to build a dance hall on a rural crossroads in Leitrim, Ireland where young people could come to learn, to argue, to dream… but above all to dance and have fun. Jimmy’s Hall celebrates the spirit of these free thinkers. The Ken Loach film is set in 1932 and follows events when Jimmy returned from a decade in New York and re-opened the hall. film details
’71
’71 takes place over a single night in the life of a young British soldier accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, he must survive the night alone and find his way to safety. Under the sure-handed direction of Yann Demange, this is a deeply moving character driven drama fueled by a beautifully understated performance by Jack O’Connell. (2014, 99 min)
Gold
This quirky comedy is about an estranged father who returns to his hometown after an absence of twelve years in order to re-connect with his daughter and ex-wife and fulfill a request of his dying father. An indie gem from director Niall Heery, starring Maisie Williams, described as “the most promising talent to come out of Game of Thrones.” film details
Standby
Directed by Rob Burke, Ronan Burke, this romantic comedy looks at what happens when an ex suddenly pops back into your life. At the Dublin airport, a distraught woman (Mad Men’s Jessica Paré) appears at a counter pleading for a standby flight home and the clerk (Brian Gleeson) happens to be a former love. They wind up roaming the streets of Dublin for an eventful night… film details
New Works on the Way
A New Way of Looking at Criminal Justice
Local Irish filmmaker Richard O’Connell (San Francisco Irish Film Festival) is busy editing hours of footage of his new documentary, The Corridor. The film, by Annelise Wunderlich and Richard O’Connell is a documentary portrait of the first high school in the United States providing education to adult inmates in jail.
A feature-length documentary, The Corridor portrays an innovative experiment: the nation’s first high school custom built inside an adult jail. The film follows one semester inside Five Keys Charter School in San Francisco, observing as student inmates, teachers, and law enforcement staff prepare for graduation day and navigate a new paradigm of criminal justice that’s based on the human potential for change. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department considers the school to be the “crown jewel” of their restorative justice based re-entry program, and it has inspired similar programs in California and across the country.
Richard and Annelise and crew were the first given access to film inside the jail, and they spent several months inside the men’s and women’s facilities, capturing the conflicts, dilemmas and breakthroughs that arise at the school on a daily basis. The film portrays an ensemble of characters, ranging from the current Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, to the men and women behind bars, to the teachers, administrators and deputized staff.
Watch trailer:
“Shalom Ireland” Director’s New Documentary Focuses on Immigrant Workers
Local filmmaker Valerie Lapin’s (“Shalom Ireland”) new documentary “The Long Ride” about the birth of the new Civil Rights Movement for immigrant workers is in final production. Read more
The Pirate Grace
East Bay based father and daughter Vince and Kate Miller are producing an animated fifteen to twenty minute film about Grace O’Malley. Commonly known by her nickname Granuaile, she is a well-known historical figure in 16th-century Irish history, sometimes known as “The Sea Queen of Connacht” or “The Pirate Queen” more on Grace O’Malley
The duo ran a Kickstarter campaign in 2014 and successfully met their goal, so the project is underway. Take a look at the trailer and stay tuned…
Jack Kavanagh, Documenting Disability • Aug 30
His name is Jack Kavanagh, 22, a pharmacy student at Trinity College in Dublin, a windsurfing fanatic, a fluent Irish speaker, and a bit of a talker. Following a holiday windsurfing accident, resulting in a broken neck, Jack created a TV documentary to show that almost total body paralysis would not prevent him from living a very full life.
Breaking Boundaries aired on Irish television this month, and now Jack returns to the Bay Area for a first public viewing in the US, at Swig, San Francisco on August 30. Tickets
April events
Special Screening
Michael Collins (1996) • Mechanics’ Institute, April 29
Directed by Neil Jordan, Liam Neeson, and Aidan Quinn, this biopic of the IRA co-founder Michael Collins, Rickman plays Éamon de Valera as a man who begins as Collins’ revolutionary ally and ends as his philosophical opponent. Covering the end of the Easter rising to Collins’ assassination in 1920, this movie was the highest grossing film ever in Ireland on its release in 1996, surpassed only by Titanic four years later. Both its cinematography and score were nominated for Oscars. more
1916 The Irish Rebellion • April 8
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. In partnership with the Consulate General of Ireland, the SF Irish Film Festival presents 1916 The Irish Rebellion. Produced by the University of Notre Dame and narrated by Liam Neeson, this landmark film tells the dramatic story of the events of Easter Week 1916, when a small group of Irish rebels took on the might of the British Empire.
The documentary – featuring a combination of rarely seen archival footage, new segments filmed on location worldwide, and interviews with leading international experts – also uncovers the untold story of the central role Irish Americans played in the lead-up to the rebellion. Although defeated militarily, the men and women of the Easter Rising would wring a moral victory from the jaws of defeat and inspire countless freedom struggles throughout the world – from Ireland to India.
The screening will be followed by a panel of expert speakers, moderated by Consul General Philip Grant, who will discuss the significance of the 1916 Easter Rising and its impact in Ireland, the US and throughout the world. Tickets $15, on sale soon at www.sfirishfilm.com
March events
San Jose State University Film Festival • Mar 17
This free event brings a taste of contemporary Irish film to San Jose. The two evenings will each include a program of short films and a feature film: Director John Crowley’s award-winning BROOKLYN for the first night and Neal Jordan’s spellbinding ONDINE for the second night. The first night, St. Patrick’s Day, will also include live Irish music. more
The Imaginative Power of Place Film Screening • March 5
Born in Northern Ireland, Flora Skivington‘s fiction and non-fiction films explore individual relationships to places of personal significance. She is interested in how individual imagination can shape our experience of places and how personal stories and memories can add meaning to the objects around us. Flora is inspired by real-life stories, rural landscapes, and a love of color and texture. Her films have been shown at film festivals, art galleries and other public venues in the US and Europe, including the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. She has an MFA in Film from San Francisco Art Institute and a PhD in Fine Art from University of Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art. The event will include a screening of Corvus Corax, Newt Wonders, Oscar & Isabelle, Fatto A Mano, Beautiful Malaria and Nesting Turkey Vultures, followed by Q&A with the filmmaker. more
February events
Irish Day of Film • February 21
Irish Culture Bay Area Special! Introduce a new subscriber and enter to win two tickets to any film of your choosing! Send new subscriber email address here
Sunday, February 21 will be “Irish Day” at the Mostly British Film Festival to be held at the Vogue theater in San Francisco. Partnering with the SF Irish Film Fest, films include: “A Nightingale Falling,” an old-fashioned historical period drama set during the War of Independence and involving unrequited love and sibling jealousies; “One Million Dubliners”, an insider’s look at Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery, home to a who’s who of Irish revolutionaries, artists and cultural icons; and “My Name is Emily” about a girl and her father embarking on a road trip through Ireland.
The evening’s centerpiece is “You’re Ugly Too” a road movie about the travelers of a recent orphan and her estranged uncle. “You’re Ugly” won best Irish first feature at the Galway Film Fleadh.
Aidan Gillen will participate in a Q & A following the screening. Aidan stars in “Game of Thrones,” “The Wire” and “Queer as Folk.”
For screening times and ticket information see calendar
December events
Guggenheim Connection – Did You Know?
The dramatic life of art icon Peggy Guggenheim is revealed in this portrait by director Lisa Immordino Vreeland. Never a beauty nor as wealthy as her name implied, Guggenheim decided to make her mark by collecting modern art. Moving through the cultural upheaval of the 20th century, she collected not only art, but artists. Her colorful personal history included trysts, affairs and marriages with Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Marcel Duchamp. And Samuel Beckett. The film is a feast of the greatest art of the 20th century, mixed with the wild life of one of the most influential women in the history of the art world. December playing at San Francisco Clay Theatre; Berkeley, Shattuck Cinema; Marin County Smith Rafael Film Center
Oscar & Isabelle Screening at Crossroads Salon Dec. 13
The upcoming Crossroads Salon on December 13 features artist Flora Skivington who will show her film, Oscar and Isabelle (the film will be shown on a small screen in a private home.) Set on the coastline of Northern Ireland and narrated by the consciousness of the house, Oscar & Isabelle details the end of a fifty-year-old love affair between Isabelle, a retired music hall singer, and Oscar, her 150 year-old house.
The Crossroads Salon is a forum for writers and artists who have Irish or Irish-American heritages or are interested in exploring Irish-American themes, as well as for readers and viewers who want to participate in this exploration. Participants are asked to bring work or questions related to the theme of place. How do you relate to place? How does place inform your sense of self, community or belonging? How does a sense of place relate to Irish or Irish-American identity and the books we choose to read/art that we choose to view? Each participant’s offering is limited to 8-10 minutes. See calendar for more information.
“Shalom Ireland” Screenings • October 11, 20
ICCC Patrick J. Dowling Library located at the United Irish Cultural Center and Congregation Beth Israel Judea are teaming up to host an exciting cross cultural event: two screenings of “Shalom Ireland” (October 11th at Beth Israel Judea and October 20th at UICC) Screenings will be followed by a panel discussion with the director, Valerie Lapin Ganley, and representatives from both the Irish and Jewish communities. “Shalom Ireland” is a documentary film about Ireland’s remarkable, yet little known Jewish community. The film chronicles the history of Irish Jewry while celebrating the unique culture created by blending Irish and Jewish traditions. From gun running for the Irish Republican Army during Ireland’s War of Independence to smuggling fellow Jews escaping from the Holocaust into Palestine, “Shalom Ireland” tells the untold story of how Irish Jews participated in the creation of both Ireland and Israel. See October calendar for details
WIN a pair of tickets! Sign up a friend for Irish Culture Bay Area monthly emails and get two tickets to use between Monday July 13 and Thursday July 16 at the Landmark Embarcadero Theater, SF. Email here by July 7th
Upcoming “Steve Jobs” Film Underway
Danny Boyle’s long-gestating biopic of the late technology guru and Apple founder Steve Jobs has begun shooting in San Francisco – with Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender in the lead role (following early lead-man rumors of Leonardo DiCaprio, then Christian Bale). Boyle directs the film, simply titled Steve Jobs, from a script by Aaron Sorkin, based on the biography by Walter Isaacson. The cast includes Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Katherine Waterston, and Michael Stuhlbarg. Keep an eye out for local faces in the extras department. Never know who you might see.
A New Way of Looking at Criminal Justice
Local Irish filmmaker Richard O’Connell (San Francisco Irish Film Festival) is busy editing hours of footage of his new documentary, The Corridor. The film, by Annelise Wunderlich and Richard O’Connell is a documentary portrait of the first high school in the United States providing education to adult inmates in jail.
A feature-length documentary, The Corridor portrays an innovative experiment: the nation’s first high school custom built inside an adult jail. The film follows one semester inside Five Keys Charter School in San Francisco, observing as student inmates, teachers, and law enforcement staff prepare for graduation day and navigate a new paradigm of criminal justice that’s based on the human potential for change. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department considers the school to be the “crown jewel” of their restorative justice based re-entry program, and it has inspired similar programs in California and across the country.
Richard and Annelise and crew were the first given access to film inside the jail, and they spent several months inside the men’s and women’s facilities, capturing the conflicts, dilemmas and breakthroughs that arise at the school on a daily basis. The film portrays an ensemble of characters, ranging from the current Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, to the men and women behind bars, to the teachers, administrators and deputized staff.
The Corridor implicitly poses questions for the audience about crime and punishment, and whether or not real change – of both the system and individuals – is possible.
Over the last two years, The Corridor has received backing from BAVC and The San Francisco Foundation but are looking for further support to finish editing, do the sound mix and score the film. Say the filmmakers: “By supporting The Corridor you’ll help us ensure that we create a film that engages and galvanizes audiences to support a new way of looking at criminal justice – and the belief that the everyone deserves the opportunity and has the power to change.”
’71 and CAL, Castro Theater • May 11
’71
’71 takes place over a single night in the life of a young British soldier accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, he must survive the night alone and find his way to safety. Under the sure-handed direction of Yann Demange, this is a deeply moving character driven drama fueled by a beautifully understated performance by Jack O’Connell. (2014, 99 min)
CAL
John Lynch plays a young Catholic member of the IRA who lives with his father in a Protestant housing estate in a small town near Belfast. His attraction to an older librarian (Helen Mirren) becomes an obsession despite his involvement in her husband’s murder. Director Pat O’Connor’s taut, compelling love story won Mirren Best Actress at Cannes; Mark Knopfler composed the haunting score. (1984, 102 min)
See calendar for times and info
Ardoyne. Music Video. Ireland 5 mins. This video uses archival footage from director Philip Clayton-Thompson’s 1973 award-winning documentary, ‘A Place Called Ardoyne,’ and the animation of the paintings the children of Belfast created for use in the original documentary, which were later mounted in an exhibition about the effects of war on children at the Tate, London in 1973 – one of the most highly successful and well-attended exhibitions at the Tate in its time. The song describes that yearly incident in Belfast, where Protestants march up the Crumlin Road through a portion of Catholic Ardoyne. When the two groups meet, riots begin. The refrain is ‘We will march together. Give peace a chance. We will march together today.’ Philip Clayton-Thompson will be in attendance.
Still. UK 2014. 99 mins. A stunning performance from Irish actor Aiden Gillen (Game of Thrones) fuels this dramatic thriller about a photographer, Tom Carver. Tom is stumbling blindly towards a crossroads in his life, thrown out of focus by the death of his teenage son a year earlier in a car accident. In his breakout debut film, director Simon Blake paints a gritty, menacing portrait of North London’s cruel urban environs, where the dividing lines between evil and innocence are blurred.
Tiburon International Festival
Tiburon Playhouse Theater, 40 Main Street, Tiburon
Friday, April 10, 2015 @ 10pm
OK, so it got nudged out of Oscar spotlight, but there’s still time to check out this gem at the Four Star in San Francisco. And see the Art section for details on the Tomm Moore exhibit on artwork from this film and The Secret of Kells
The movie features the voices of Brendan Gleeson and ‘Moone Boy’s David Rawle, among others. The music is by composer Bruno Coulais and Irish band Kíla. read more
Plaza Man – April 12th, Tiburon Film Festival
Directed by Kasper Verkaik, Netherlands. 60 minutes
One of the greatest mysteries of modern American history remains unsolved to this day. But for Robert Groden the answer is clear, and he has devoted his entire life to proving the theory that it was a conspiracy that led to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 – and not the lone sniper Harvey Lee Oswald, as the history books would have us believe.
Even 50 years after the event, Groden remains tireless in his search for new evidence, which he keeps in his overflowing house in Dallas. And he doesn’t hesitate to give a complete account as he sits at a small table on Dealey Plaza, the square where the murder took place, in plain sight of the Sixth Floor, which he refers to as the “cover-up museum.” Groden shocked millions of viewers in 1975 by showing the so-called Zapruder film on American TV, forcing Congress to reopen the case.
He still meets resistance on a daily basis from the authorities in his efforts to bring the truth to light, but he continues to pursue justice for the man whose death coincided with his own birthday. Director Kasper Verkaik treats the man and his solitary crusade with respect in this balanced portrait of a determined character who has paid a high price for his self-chosen mission, both as a husband and father.
Plaza Man is followed by book signing by Joseph McBride. See literature section
See calendar for more on both film and reading.