THE GALWAY Film Fleadh is celebrating its 21st birthday this year and from Tuesday July 7 to Sunday 12, it will host world premieres, special tributes, Irish and international features, documentaries and shorts, with a prestigious array of actors, directors, and filmmakers in attendance.
Opening and closing film
The fleadh will open on July 7 with Under The Same Moon (2007, Mexico ) which tells the heart breaking story of nine-year-old Carlos who is left behind in Mexico as his mother works in the US in order to give Carlos a better chance in life.
The festival will close on July 12 with Fish Tank, director Andrea Arnold’s latest feature which stars Michael Fassbender who will attend the screening. Teenager Mia is always in trouble and things are about to get worse when her mother brings home a new boyfriend.
World cinema
The Anarchist’s Wife (2009 ), directed by Marie Noelle and Peter Sehr, is set during the Spanish Civil War. Manuela loses all contact with her husband Justo but never gives up believing she will find him again.
South American film The Maid (2009 ) focuses on Raquel who has been the maid for the Valdes family for 23 years. When an additional maid comes along, Raquel sees it as a threat to her position.
In the British film Other Side Of The Game (2009 ), Tony Cole knows selling drugs was never meant to be his career. His plans to ‘go legit’ go wrong, and he is framed for murder. Tony now has only 12 hours to save his life.
Broken Embraces (2009 ) by the great Spanish director Pedro Almodovar looks at a man who writes, lives, and loves in darkness. Fourteen years earlier a car crash which cost him his sight and Lena, the love of his life. One day, he begins to talk about it.
Davy Mitchell sets out on a road trip with his younger looser brother Sean in the US film Easier With Practice (2009 ). Adventureland (2009 ) is set in a funky, ‘funtastic’ Pennsylvania amusement park, but James Brennan does not like having to man a game booth where no one is allowed win. Another American film, Baraboo (2009 ) follows six people who live in Wisconsin’s Petersen’s Cabins motel.
French/Italian film Ricky (2009 ) looks at when two ordinary people, Katie and Paco meet, fall in love, and have an extraordinary baby called Ricky. What is so extraordinary about him? Go see the film to find out.
In Amreeka (2009 ), Palestinian single mother Muna Farah and her son move to Illinois. Muna pretends to be a bank employee, even though she works in a fast food joint. Her secret is going to be revealed...
In British film Father Of Girls (2009 ), Ray Winstone plays Frank. Something unexpected happens to his daughter Helen and he begins to uncover her dark side...
French film Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy No 1 (2009 ) is inspired by the life of France’s most notorious criminal Jacques ‘The Man With 1,000 Faces’ Mesrine. The films follows his misadventures in the 1960s and 1970s.
In Mexican film I’m Going To Explode (2008 ), two troubled teenagers attempt an impossible rebellion against the adult world and in the process they discover their sexuality.
Mid August Lunch (2008 ) is about Gianni, is a middle-aged man who lives in an old house in Rome. His manager asks him to take his mother into his home for the two days of the bank holiday. However he turns up with two women and neither of them intends leaving. What is Gianni to do?
American film Frozen River (2008 ) sees Ray Eddy about to buy the house of her dreams when her husband takes off with the money. Trying to trace him down, she meets a Mohawk girl who provides her with a plan for earning easy money.
Palestinian film Pomegranates and Myrrh (2008 ) is set in Ramallah. Sparks fly between dancer Kamar and choreographer Kais, but what about Kamar’s imprisoned husband Zaid?
Baseball, to a select few, offers a way out of the slums of the Dominican Republic. Miguel Santos gets his chance to play in the US, but eventually he begins to question this life. See what Miguel decides in Sugar (2008 ).
Danish film The Candidate (2008 ), is a gritty realistic thriller about a man who finds himself in a situation where he must re-evaluate his life. Also from Denmark is Lille Soldat about a female soldier and a prostitute, and how they help each other.
Germany’s Without You I’m Nothing (2008 ) sees 25-year-old Hannes meet his father in the Bavarian Alps after years of separation. The film is directed by Florian Eichinger who will attend the screening.
In The Market (2008 ), the hospital supply truck is robbed, and in desperation the local GP hires Mihram to find medicine on the black market. Mihram sees an opportunity to make a life-changing deal, but to do so he will have to gamble with the community’s money.
Canada’s West of Pluto (2008 ) looks at a day in the lives of 12 Quebec teenagers. Time of the Comet (2008 ) is set in Albania in 1914 and is the story of Shestan, a Muslim and freedom fighter and Agnes, a Roman Catholic.
American Violet (2008 ) is based on true events. Dee Roberts is convicted on drug charges. In court she can plead guilty and go home a convicted felon or remain in prison, fight the charges, and risk a long prison sentence.
France’s The Grocer’s Son (2007 ) sees Antoine Sforza, who left his native village for the big smoke, return when his father has a stroke. Now a travelling grocer he ends up offending the locals. Fortunately Claire, whom he loves, helps him improve his skills.
Fly By Roscinante (2007 ) is both a rousing love story and a celebration of Bulgaria’s strong tradition of opera.
Documentaries
The Cove (2009 ) looks at Richard O’Barry, a world authority on dolphin training. Killing Girls (2009 ) looks at why so many women are having abortions in Russia.
Today is Better than Two Tomorrows (2009 ) tells the story of friendship between two boys who leave home at 11 to become novice monks. Tibet In Song (2009 ) examines what happens when a Tibetan exile returns home to capture the music of his people, despite the hostility of the Chinese authorities.
Adhlacoirí (2009 ) examines the traditions surrounding death and burial in Connemara, Donegal, and Waterford. Ar Bharr na dTonn Suil Siar (2009 ) features highlights of the Galway Hooker Association’s Sailing League 2008.
Na Coisithe- At Thóir Mo Sheanathar (2009 ) looks at Liam S Gógann who invented the Irish word for Republic - Poblacht. The Boys of St Columb’s (2009 ) talks to eight schoolboys who were among the first to experience free secondary education in Northern Ireland.
The Red Tail (2009 ) looks at the strike in 2005 against Northwest airlines and those workers in China where the original jobs were outsourced. It was directed by Dawn Mikkelson and Melissa Koch who will attend the screening.
In September 1998 the Serbian military discovered 37 dead bodies in a concrete canal in Kosovo. Nearly a decade later, Kosovon prime minister Ramush Haradinaj was falsely accused of the murder. The Trial (2009 ) follows the trial through the eyes of Michael O’Reilly - an Irish lawyer who is one of Haradinaj’s closest political advisors.
21 Below (2009 ) is about a young woman facing the family wounds she hoped to escape. Sweet Crude (2009 ) looks at the militants from the Niger Delta and the ‘oil war’ in Nigeria in 2008. The September Issue (2009 ) is a look behind the scenes at Vogue.
Modern Life (2008 ) looks at the lives of farmers in France. Transit Dubai (2008 ) looks at the curious city and resort of Dubai. Werner Herzog’s Encounters At The End Of The World examines those scientists who choose to form a society as far away from society as possible.
Michael Campbell is one of the few remaining white farmers still left in Zimbabwe since President Robert Mugabe began his land seizure programme. Mugabe and the White African details his struggle.
Three Miles North of Molkom (2008 ) is about seven people who open themselves up to the challenges of personal growth during Sweden’s No Mind Festival. In Till the 10th Generation, Slovak born Tomi Reichental, speaks about his ordeal in Bergen Belsen.
In Malta Radio is a look at immigration and international law through the story of 51 people desperate to escape North Africa and huddled together on a raft bound for a better live in Spain.
