#IRISHFILMFEST21
We went virtual March 17 through March 21, 2021, with over 40 films showcasing the best of Ireland and the Irish on screen.
MARCH 17, 12:00 PM
Cumar - A Galway Rhapsody
2019/Ireland (72 minutes)
Director: Aodh Ó Coileáin
A love letter to Galway from her artistic community. Through the eyes of six Galway artists this is an art film exploring the confluences which have shaped Galway and Connemara’s unique cultural fabric.
March 17, 7:00 PM
Arracht
2019 / Ireland (86 minutes)
Director: Tom Sullivan
Ireland, 1845 on the eve of The Great Hunger. Colmán Sharkey, a fisherman, a father, a husband, takes in a stranger at the behest of a local priest. Patsy, a former soldier in the Napoleonic wars arrives just ahead of ‘the blight,’ a disease that eventually wipes out the country’s potato crop, contributing to the death and displacement of millions.
March 18, 12:00 PM
Shorts Program 1
(82 minutes)
A selection of original, short films that exemplify Ireland’s tradition of rich and distinctive storytelling.
March 18, 3:00 PM
The Hunger: The Story of the Irish Famine
2019/Ireland (90 minutes)
Director: Ruan Magan
The Hunger tells the epic story of the last major famine to have struck Europe, how it sparked political turmoil and revolution and caused the deaths of 100,000 people in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia during the 1840s. In Ireland, where half the population of 8 million people survived on the potato as their primary food, the failure of the potato crops over successive years caused the deaths of more than 1 million people and caused 2 million to emigrate.
March 18, 7:00 PM
2020 Breakthrough Feature,
A Bump Along the Way
2019 / Ireland (95 minutes)
Director: Shelly Love
A boozy 44-year-old single mother becomes pregnant from a one-night-stand, much to the shame of her buttoned-up teen daughter.
March 19, 12:00 PM
Featuring our 2020 Director’s Choice Short, Ruby, and our 2020 Most Inspiring Short award recipient, The Bird and the Whale, this program showcases new work from seven directors who have strong ties to the Irish Film Festival, Boston. Among the program highlights is the US Premiere of One Night at a Time, directed by our own IFF team member Mica Connors, which brought together a cast and creative team of some very familiar Irish Film Fest faces!
March 19, 3:00 PM
The Man Who Wanted to Fly
2018/Ireland (86 minutes)
Director: Frank Shouldice
Eighty-something bachelor farmer Bobby Coote has always wanted to fly. He's determined to make his dream to be a pilot come true. Even if it's the last thing he does..
March 19, 7:00 PM
Director's Choice feature,
The Last Right
2019/Ireland (106 minutes)
Director: Aoife Crehan
Two brothers and a woman they’ve just met journey across the island of Ireland to bury a stranger.
March 20, 12:00 PM
New Irish Short Documentaries
(90 minutes)
A selection of nine thought-provoking and diverse short documentaries that present slices of life from across Ireland, while reflecting on universal themes.
MARCH 20, 3:00PM
Global Vision Documentary
Katie
2018/Ireland (85 minutes)
Director: Ross Whitaker
She lost it all. She wants it back. Can the world’s greatest female boxer become World Champion again after Olympic disaster?
March 20, 7:00 PM
Metal Heart
2018/Ireland (90 minutes)
Director: Hugh O’Connor
(90 minutes)
There is much rivalry between twin sisters Emma and Chantal, quite different in just about every way, when their mysterious young neighbor moves back in.
March 21, 12:00 PM
New Encounters: Women in Film and Television (WFT) Ireland Shorts Program
(90 minutes)
Co-presented by Women in Film and Video New England (WFTNE)
Opening a window on work by a new wave of women filmmakers, IFI and Women in Film and TV Ireland (WFTI) present this inspiring program of short films selected from a significant volume of work submitted by WFTI members. While these films couldn’t differ more in style, scope, genre and theme, they all have one thing in common: they are directed and created by the Irish film industry’s most talented up-and-coming female creatives.
March 21, 3:00 PM
Winner for our 2020 Special Jury Prize
When Women Won
2020 / Ireland (50 minutes)
Director: Anna Rodgers
Co-presented by Women in Film and Video New England (WFTNE)
When Women Won tells the emotional inside story of the Together for Yes campaign to repeal the 8th amendment and change Irish society forever.