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LOS ANGELES IRISH FILM FESTIVAL 2011  PROGRAM AND TRIBUTE TO FIONNULA FLANAGAN

THE STEVE BRENNAN TRIBUTE AWARD TO FIONNULA FLANAGAN

Los Angeles Irish Film Festival 2011 Program

OPENING NIGHT
Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 7pm
TRIBUTE TO FIONNULA FLANAGAN
PERFORMANCE BY JUDITH MOK

SPECIAL SCREENING OF "THE GUARD"
Director: John Michael McDonagh
Producers: Chris Clark, Flora Fernandez Marengo, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe
Writer: John Michael McDonagh
Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham, David Wilmot, Rory Keenan, Mark Strong, Fionnula Flanagan, Dominique McElligott, Sarah Greene and Katarina Cas
Edited by: Chris Gill
Music by: Calexico
US Distributor: Sony Classics
Synopsis:  A comedic fish-out-of-water tale of murder, blackmail, drug trafficking and rural police corruption. Two policemen must join forces to take on an international drug-smuggling gang - one, an unorthodox Irish policeman and the other, a straitlaced FBI agent. Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) is an eccentric small-town cop with a confrontational and crass personality and a subversive sense of humor. A longtime policeman in County Galway, Boyle is a maverick with his own moral code. He has seen enough of the world to know there isn’t much to it and has had plenty of time to think about it.  When a fellow police officer disappears and Boyle’s small town becomes key to a large drug trafficking investigation, he is forced to at least feign interest when dealing with the humorless FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) assigned to the case.  And so the scene is set for an unlikely friendship and explosive finale.

"MUSIC FILMS"
Friday, September 30, 2011

7.30pm THE KILLING JOKE (Short musical)
Director: Sebastian Lopez
Producers: Juan Pablo Cartagena
Writers: Sebastian Lopez
Cast: Gustavo Marzo, Clarisa Staracci
Edited by: Sabrina Mottino
Music by: Colin Devlin
Synopsis: 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)
Directors: Nick August-Perna, Chris Dapkins, Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Producers: Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Cast: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová.
Edited by: Nick August
Synopsis: 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 (Music video)
Director: Niall McKay
Editor: John Murphy
Synopsis: 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)
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
Synopsis: 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.
Paul Bushnell, the music arranger, will be present.

SPOTLIGHT SCREENING

Saturday, October 1, 2011
5pm: BYE BYE NW (Documentary)
Director: Aideen O'Sullivan, Ross Whitaker.
Producer: Aideen O'Sullivan, Ross Whitaker.
Editor: Andrew Hearne
Synopsis: 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
Director: Risteard O’Domhnaill
Producer: Rachel Lysaght
Synopsis: 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.
Women In Film International (WIFI)

"CLASSIC FILMS"
7.30pm DREAMING THE QUIET MAN (Documentary)
Director: Sé Merry Doyle
Producers: Vanessa Gildea, Martina Durac
Synopsis: 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)
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
Synopsis: 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

5pm: KNUCKLE (Documentary) Q&A with Ian Palmer and James Quinn McDonagh to follow screening
Director: Ian Palmer
Producers: Teddy Leifer and Ian Palmer
Cast: Ian Palmer (voice), James Quinn McDonagh.
Synopsis: 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. West Coast Premier.

7:30pm YUKI (Short film)
Director: Jonathan Beer
Producers: Larry Cowan, Brian J. Falconer
Writers: Brian J. Falconer, Jonathan Beer
Cast: Haruka Abe, Junichi Kajioka, Lalor Roddy
Synopsis: 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)
Director: Darragh Byrne
Producers: Jacqueline Kerrin, Dominic Wright
Writers: Ciaran Creagh
Cast: Colm Meaney, Colin Morgan, Milka Alroth
Synopsis: 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)
Director: Peter McDonald
Producer: Eimear O’ Kane
Writer: Peter McDonald
Cast: Scott Graham, Andrew Bennett, Michael McElhatton, Eamonn Hunt
Synopsis: 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 to follow screening
Director: Ian Power
Producers: Ian Power, Macdara Kelleher, Brendan McDonald
Writers: Ian Power
Cast: James Cosmo, Kerry Condon, Demián Birchir, Jamie Kierans
Synopsis: 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.

ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL
The Los Angeles Irish film festival is a non-competitive film festival about celebrating the Irish love for story-telling and their deep rooted love for the tellers of tales.  A rich and ancient tradition that started around the hearth of every Irish household, their cultural passion for storytelling has found its way onto the world stage through the medium of film.The rest of LAIFF's program of screenings will take place at the Aero Theater, Cinematheque, 1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, California. LAIFF's hospitality center at 'Living By Lynne Leventen' art gallery on Montana Avenue will present Curt Gunther's rare never-before-seen photographs of The Beatles from their 1964 inaugural North American tour.  Lennon, McCartney and Harrison all had Irish roots.
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, 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.
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