RIGA - Arriving directly from a successful run in Valletta, Malta, the Baltics will host a minifestival of films consisting of four features, two documentaries and three shorts from the Emerald Isle.
The touring Green Screen Eire Film Fleadh (pronounced "flah" - fleadh is the Gaelic word for festival) will be showing in Riga April 16-21 and at the Soprus cinema in Tallinn April 22-29.
As part of the cultural celebrations for Ireland's current presidency of the European Union, the Irish Film Board, together with the Irish Film Institute, hopes that the festival will provide both a fascinating glimpse of contemporary Irish cinema and Irish society as a whole.
In a curious twist of destiny it was novelist James Joyce who unveiled the first motion picture theater in central Dublin in 1909. Joyce thought he'd make a bundle of money, but unfortunately rain and bad weather kept the paying customers at home.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, non-Irish filmmakers defined Ireland's cinematic image. Hollywood perpetuated a romanticized Irish stereotype whose origins lay in long centuries of British political control. Most of the cliches were embodied in John Ford's nostalgic classic, "The Quiet Man." At the same time, Walt Disney created whimsical images of leprechauns, blarney stones and the pot of gold at the end of each rainbow.
It wasn't until the surprise Oscar successes of Jim Sheridan's "My Left Foot" in 1990 and Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game" in 1993 that the Irish government approved radical new measures to support its film industry. Irish film releases increased from a paltry three in 1993 to a record 21 by 2000.
The Green Screen festival will offer viewers the chance to catch such diverse films as "Song for a Raggy Boy," starring Aidan Quinn, and "Goldfish Memory," a light-hearted look at the dangers and delights of dating in Dublin. There's also the over-the-top black comedy "Dead Bodies" and "Disco Pigs," a poignant but twisted love story featuring Cillian Murphy as Pig and Elaine Cassidy as Runt. Murphy's performance is electrifying - something you don't want to miss.
"Oilean Thoraigh" captures the changing patterns of life during a year on the most remote inhabited island off Ireland. Sarah Share's documentary "If I Should Fall From Grace" is an eye-opening portrait of former Pogues' frontman Shane McGowan, who recently performed in Riga. Director Share admits that McGowan was an extremely difficult subject to interview: "I sat outside his house for 1hours, with my crew, trying to get him going. I waited around for three weeks with a crew on standby to get some footage. He has specific lines that he has been telling people for years, some of which have little truth in them."
On a lighter note, the festival also features two Oscar-nominated animated shorts, "Give up yer Aul Sins" and "Fifty Percent Grey." "Give up yer Aul Sins" is the story of John the Baptist enthusiastically explained by a young child. Irish filmmakers are making great movies nowadays - be sure to check them out.
Green Screen festival
Kino Riga, April 16-21
61 Elizabetes St., Riga
For program see film
listings on page 12
Soprus, April 22-29
8 Vani-posti, Tallinn
For program, visit www.kino.ee
