FINDING A NEW AUDIENCE FOR IRISH MOVIEMAKERS
But Vancouver Irish Film Festival rolls out more than just films
Back for its second year, the Vancouver Irish Film Festival (VIRFF) is returning with solid list of features, documentaries, and a new shorts program.
While the Irish cinema culture is front and centre, the festival is also providing some non-film fun including traditional Irish music and dance.
You don’t have to be one of the 675,000 self-identifying Irish folk (according to Statistics Canada from 2016) in the province to enjoy this festival. The films are first and foremost good. Many events sold out last year, so keep that in mind.
Postmedia News spoke to festival founder and director Aine Coady about the growing event.
Q What is new in 2019?
A This year we have introduced a shorts program featuring the best Irish shorts over the past decade.
Irish short films have been incredibly successful on the world stage, having achieved two Academy Award wins and 10 Academy Award nominations over the last 15 years. (You can see the shorts on Saturday, 1 p.m., at Vancity.)
Q What was the impetus to start the festival?
A I wanted to promote Irish film and Irish talent abroad and I saw an interest for a new film festival. There is such a wonderful Irish community in B.C. so I had brilliant support to launch it. We hope our schedule of programming will appeal not only to the growing Irish community in Vancouver but also to a broader audience. There are some amazing independent films in Ireland that, for a number of reasons, don’t get seen in North America.
Q Storytelling and the Irish go hand in hand, so I imagine there was a lot of content to pick from. How did you decide on the lineup?
A The Irish have always had the gift of the gab and we love to tell a good story so it’s little wonder that Irish talent have made some brilliant movies over the years. We started programming for this year’s festival in July, choosing a mix of classic films and newer releases. As we are a new cultural festival, we could pick critically acclaimed films that had finished their distribution but may have not been seen in Canada. I was an independent filmmaker in Dublin before I moved here, so I know some crew who helped me with my indie programming.
Q How does the growing Irish population in B.C. influence your programming choices?
A I wanted to appeal to all ages, so I feel the program at VIRFF 2019 has something for everyone comedy, drama, fantasy, Irish Oscar shorts, documentaries, Irish-language cinema and family fare. I was delighted last year with the diverse audience of all generations, so we wanted to continue to grow on this year.
Q What film are you most excited to show to audiences?
A Our opening gala film A Bump
Along the Way is a new release to Irish cinemas. This female written, directed and produced film set in Derry is a charming feel-good film and I can’t wait to see how audiences in Ireland react to it. Other program highlights include acclaimed documentary Gaza from Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell, and Ireland’s official entry for best international film at the 2020 Academy Awards.
Q What is some of the other, non-film programming you have planned for this year?
A Festivalgoers can enjoy the “craic,” and watched live traditional Irish music and dancing performances. We have Irish food and drinks stalls, too, so everyone can enjoy an Irish cinema experience.
All our volunteers (including myself ) are Irish expats on a two-year working holiday visa, so we’re working hard to bring Irish cinema to B.C. during our time in Canada.
We don’t have roots or family here but we wanted to leave an impact and establish a cultural film festival.