A feast of films in Galway for Generation Fleadh weekend
The Galway Film Fleadh is currently hosting a five-day programme of screenings in the city under the title Generation Fleadh.
It opened on Wednesday and runs until this Sunday, November 8. Highlights include Irish premieres, cinema classics, festival favourites and special screenings at the Pálás Cinema.
‘Josephine’, directed by Beth De Araújo and featuring Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Festival will get its Irish premiere this Friday. This exploration of childhood trauma and its impact on family life will be followed by a discussion with adolescent and adult psychotherapist Martha McKeon Lynch, on depicting trauma on screen.
Before that, audiences can revisit Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’s ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, which marks its 20th anniversary.
This Saturday, ‘Edie Arnold Is a Loser’ will have its Irish premiere. Kade Atwood and Megan Rico’s award-winning punk coming-of-age comedy is about a Catholic school outcast who finds her voice through a secret punk band.
Saturday’s screenings will also include David Lynch’s celebrated journey into Hollywood’s dark underworld, ‘Mulholland Drive’, which turns 25 this year.
Also returning to the big screen is Isabel Daly’s ‘Washed Up’, an LGBTQIA+ romantic comedy which follows a young artist navigating heartbreak and the sale of her late grandfather’s seaside home.
The closing film on Sunday is ‘Learning to Breathe Underwater’, directed by Rebekah Fortune. Filmed in Galway, it won the Audience Award at this year’s Film Fleadh.
This soulful, imaginative story of grief, family and friendship follows eight-year-old Leo, whose imagination helps him navigate a complicated reality. The arrival of a spirited au pair challenges Leo to embrace the unpredictable. The screening, at 6pm in the Pálás, will be followed by a Q&A with producers, Heather Higgins and Ivan McMahon, who will talk about how the film was made and its connection to Galway.
Generation Fleadh, running in the Pálás, the Eye Cinema and other venues, also features other Irish and international short films, animation, workshops and masterclasses. It’s open to audiences of all ages.
Tickets and the full programme at www.galwayfilmfleadh.com.