Thursday March 13West Newton Cinema, 7:00 pm
Once
Director: John Carney
Main cast: Glen Hansgard, Markéta Irglová, Hugh Walsh, Geoff Minogue
Running time: 95 minutes
A modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin. Featuring Glen Hansard from the Irish band “The Frames,” the film tells the story of a street musician and a Czech immigrant during an eventful week as they write, rehearse and record songs that reveal their unique love story.
Sunday March 16West Newton Cinema, 6:00 pm
Pavee Lackeen
Director: Perry Ogden
Main cast: Winnie Maughan, Rose Maughan, Rosie Maughan, Paddy Maughan, Michael Collins
Running time: 88 minutes
Pavee Lackeen tells the story of Winnie, a ten-year-old Irish Traveler girl, who lives with her mother and siblings in a dilapidated trailer on the side of the road in a desolate industrialized area of Dublin. The film follows Winnie through several weeks of her life as she struggles with her identity as a young Traveler girl in contemporary Ireland. The Traveling people of Ireland maintain a culture and language which sets them apart from the rest of the population and have been the victims of much misunderstanding and prejudice that continues to this day. Dispelling existing stereotypes, Pavee Lackeen is an intimate portrait of a resilient and spirited young girl and her proud, dignified family struggling day by day against faceless bureaucracy, poverty and prejudice.
Sunday March 16
West Newton Cinema, 8:00 pm
Small Engine Repair
Director: Niall Heery
Main cast: Iain Glen, Steven Mackintosh, Stuart Graham, Laurence Kinlan
Running time: 98 minutes
Doug, an aspiring country singer, has spent his life as a loser in a non descript small town with nobody believing in his heartbreaking voice and talent as a musician. His wife has left him and only his best friend believes in him. But he has one last chance to make it...
Monday March 177:00 pm West Newton Cinema
The Front Line
Director: David Gleeson
Main cast: Eriq Ebouaney, James Frain, Gerard McSorley, Hakeem Kae-Kazim.
Running time: 95 minutes
Joe Yumba has traveled far—from the dark heart of the Congo to the cold streets of Dublin. Behind him is a life of civil war and terror but his application for asylum has been successful. He has to carve out a new life in a new Ireland for himself and his family. His happiness is short lived…on his way home from his job as a security guard in the bank where he now works he is manhandled into the back of a van. Inside, psychotic Eddie Gilroy offers him a deadly ultimatum: help access the bank vault or lose his loved ones.
9:00 pm West Newton Cinema
Kings
Director: Tom Collins
Main Cast: Colm Meaney, Donal O’Kelly, Brendan Conway, Donncha Crowley, Barry Barnes
Running Time 88 minutes
Adapted from the Jimmy Murphy play “The Kings of Kilburn Road” the film follows the story of a group of six young men who leave their homes in the west of Ireland in the mid 1970s to go to England in the hope of making their fortunes and returning home. Thirty years later only one of them makes it home, but does so in a coffin. The five remaining friends reunite at his wake and face up to the reality of their alienation as long-term emigrants who no longer have any real place to call home. The film, which is bilingual having both English and Irish dialogue, has been selected as Ireland's entry for best foreign-language film at this year's Academy Awards. This is the first time an Irish-language movie has been entered in the Oscar race.
Wednesday March 26
Boston College, Higgins 300, 7:00 pm
Get Collins
Director: Steve Carson
Running time: 52 minutes
Introduce by Robert Savage, Irish Studies, Boston College
The popular image of the Irish War of independence is of Flying Columns battling it out with British troops in the hills of Cork and Tipperary. In truth, however, the decisive battles of that time were fought in the streets of Dublin. It was a murky struggle involving deception and betrayal, as each side raced to identify their opponents – and kill them. Now, recently uncovered testimonies from those at the centre of the intelligence war shine light on a world in which no-one could be trusted and nothing was what it seemed. Extensively dramatized, Get Collins reveals this network of 'backchannels': how, at the height of the war, secret contacts were made between British officials and Michael Collins himself. This is a gripping film, one of the darker and more intriguing storylines of his leadership during the War of Independence: the ruthless and ultimately bloody cat-and-mouse relationship with the colonial authorities.
Wednesday April 2
Boston College, Higgins 300, 7:00 pm
Colman Doyle – Ábhar Machnaimh
Directed by James Kelly
Running time 52 minutes, Irish with subtitles
Colman Doyle photographed Ireland for over fifty years-we follow him as he returns to photograph West Kerry, reconnecting with his earliest work as a press photographer. In the process, we look back at the astonishing collection of photographs taken by Colman Doyle over the decades.
Wednesday April 9
Boston College, Higgins 310, 7:00 pm
Liam O’Flaherty
Directed by Macdara Ó Curraighín
Running time: 52 minutes, Irish with subtitles
Introduced by Phil O’Leary, Boston College Irish Studies Program.
This film examines the life and times of Liam O’Flaherty as an author who wrote both in English and in Irish. We are shown his early life in the Aran Islands, his schooling, his soldiering and his struggles as a young writer. Particular attention is paid to his attitude to the Irish language and why he didn’t write more books in his native tongue. Writers, literary scholars and friends speak about his work and their acquaintance with him. This fascinating profile also includes archive footage and still pictures, which have never been seen publicly before. This film is courtesy of TG4 the Irish language station, in Irish with English subtitles.
Wednesday April 16Boston College, Higgins 300, 7:00 pm
Mise: Sean Ó Ríordáin
Director: Traolach Ó Buachalla
Running time 52 minutes, Irish with subtitles
Introduced by Louis de Paor, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Sean Ó Ríordáin (1916-77) is one of the greatest Irish poets in any tongue. His work stands as a testament to his genius and extraordinary ability with language. He is also a man we know very little about. On the 30th anniversary of Ó Ríordáin’s death, this documentary sets out to celebrate his story and to provide a monument to a fiercely private figure whose work commands our respect but whose character has never been explored. Poet Louis de Paor will present the film and takes us on a journey to trace the story of Seán Ó Ríordáin the man and writer – a very lonely and isolated man who somehow found inspiration for some of the most beautiful verse ever written. He explores the wealth of his poetry, visits the sources of his inspiration, and talks to other key figures to unearth the real story of the man.
Rob Savage co-director of the Irish Studies Program at Boston College organizes the Irish Film Series.
Special thanks to: Aoife Coughlin and Karen Wall at the Irish Film Institute; Reel Ireland; Jim and Dave Bramante at the West Newton Cinema, Bórd Scannán na hÉireann; Subotica Entertainment; Wide Eye Films; TG4, the Irish Arts Council, Animo Limited, Rónán O Muirthile, Máire Harris, Gael-Linn, Stuart Strutin, Panorama Entertainment, Louis De Paor, Eamonn Bonner, the BC Offices of Marketing and Communications, Rosanne Pellegrini the Office of Public Affairs, Morgan Adams, and Liz Sullivan.