A scene from Jim Sheridan’s “The Secret Scripture.”
Irish Screen America launched its 2017 program in Dublin earlier this month, unveiling a line-up of Irish feature and short films which that will feature in Los Angeles this week and in New York at the end of next week.
The festival also announced its 2017 Rising Star Award winners, as well as the inaugural Jim Sheridan Award for Achievement in Irish Filmmaking, named for this year’s special guest and director of its opening film, Jim Sheridan.
The festival will open with “The Secret Scripture,” directed by Jim Sheridan and starring the Oscar winning actress Vanessa Redgrave. Sheridan will be opening the festival in both New York and Los Angeles and taking questions after the screenings. Other Irish features selected for premieres in NY and LA include “Song of Granite,” the life story of traditional sean-nos singer Joe Heaney, accompanied by a Q & A with the director Pat Collins; “Bad Day for the Cut,” the first and only Roscommon farmer revenge thriller, which received its world premiere earlier this year at Sundance; and “Cardboard Gangsters,” the highest-grossing Irish film of 2017, with director Mark O’Connor and star John Connors in attendance also. Feature documentaries selected for ISA include “Loving Lorna” from directors Annika and Jessica Karlsson, about a young inner-city Dublin girl who dreams of becoming a farrier, even though it is generally considered a job for men; and “In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America,” the feature documentary about Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, narrated by Liam Neeson, with dramatic footage from the conflict in Northern Ireland and accounts by U.S. presidents, congressmen and senators.
The Irish Screen America short-film selection includes three different programs: shorts made in Ireland, shorts made by Irish filmmakers in LA and shorts made by Irish filmmakers in New York. Highlights include “Peel,” directed by Annika Cassidy and starring Lauryn Canny; “The Secret Market,” directed by Martina McGlynn & Garret Daly and starring Victoria Smurfi; “Native,” directed by Linda Bhreathnach and starring Patrick Bergin; “The Others,” directed by Amanda Brennan and starring Olivia Tracey (The Island); Whadd'ya Say?, directed by Karl Harpur (Love/Hate), and many more.
The Irish Screen America festival runs from tomorrow through Sunday 24 at the Aero Cinematheque in Los Angeles and from Friday, Sept. 29, through Sunday, Oct 1, at NYU's Cantor Film Center in New York.
For the full program go to: www.irishscreenamerica.com.
