Irish Film Week – March 2011

March is the month to explore contemporary cinema from Ireland with Irish Film Week coming to Israeli cinematheques in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Sderot and Rosh Pina, thanks to the support of the Embassy of Ireland in Israel, in association with The Irish Film Institute’s (IFI) Reel Ireland Programme.

Irish Film Week will open at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque on March 9, 2011 with The Runway, Ian Power’s first feature length film. Inspired by a true story – the 1983 crash of a South American pilot in a town in Ireland, the film is told from the perspective of 9 year old Paco. Just in time for International Women’s Day is the documentary His & Hers by Ken Wardrop, looking at relationships between the sexes through the eyes and voices of 70 women.

The films, dates & venues:
The Runway, by Ian Power (Ireland, 2010, 101 min. English with Hebrew subtitles)
Inspired by the true story of a South American pilot who crashed his plane in a field near an Irish town in 1983, the film is seen through the eyes of nine-year-old Paco, who believes his absent father is Spanish and working as a NASA astronaut. When Paco finds what he thinks is the shell of a rocket in the nearby woods, and a Spanish speaking man emerges from it, Paco happily invites him home. It soon becomes clear to everyone that the ‘rocket’ is a crashed plane with its wings sheared off. The mayor and townspeople come together to repair the plane and build a runway, demonstrating rare community spirit and catching the imagination of the nation. Cast: Ian Power , Kerry Condon, James Cosmo
9.3 – Tel Aviv, 23.3 – Jerusalem, 12.3 – Haifa, 15.3 – Sderot

Nothing Personal by Urszula Antoniak (Ireland/The Netherlands, 2009, 85 min. English with Hebrew subtitles)

A rebellious young woman from the Netherlands travels around the world, reaches Ireland, and settles in the wide open spaces she longed for. A man secludes himself in a house on a beautiful island. She is radical and uncompromising. He is wise and ironic. They both see solitude as necessary for freedom. He offers her food for work and she agrees under one condition: nothing personal. The curiosity and interest in one another arrive soon enough, and they are both eager to hold the deal and to break it at the same time. The enigmatic film of director Urszula Antoniak is characterized by meditative beauty and by diving into the painful internal world of the main character. She deals with questions about freedom and human contact, to which the heart tends in the end, despite the wounds of the past. Cast: Stephen Rea, Lotte Verbeek

10.3 – Tel Aviv, 17.3 – Jerusalem, 15.3 – Haifa, 21.3 – Sderot

His & Hers by Ken Wardrop (Ireland, 2009, 80 minutes, English with Hebrew subtitles)
Using his mother’s life as inspiration, Ken Wardrop has created a film that explores how we share life’s journey with the opposite sex. His and Hers is an investigation into the ordinary to discover the extraordinary. It finds comedy in the mundane, tragedy in the profound and provides an original insight into life. The hallways, living rooms and kitchens of the Irish Midlands are used as the canvas for the film’s rich tapestry of female characters. The story unfolds sequentially through young to old with a charmingly unabashed array of Irish ladies, and there’s not a man in sight.
Produced by Andrew Freedman, His and Hers explores woman’s relationship with man by visiting moments from the lives of 70 female characters. Shot in the hallways, living rooms and kitchens of the Irish midlands, the story moves sequentially from young to old to deliver a unique and touching insight into sharing life’s journey. Where previously Wardrop undressed his mother, now he’s undressing the entire midlands.
10.3 – Tel Aviv, 14.3 – Jerusalem, 23.3 – Haifa, 17.3 – Sderot, 22.3 – Rosh Pina

Perriers Bounty by Cillian Murphy, Jim Broadbent, Jodie Whittaker (UK/Ireland, 2009, 88 min. English with Hebrew subtitles)

Set in contemporary Dublin, Perrier’s Bounty is a fast paced comedy thriller that follows three unlikely fugitives on the run from the local thug, who demands to be paid the money he is owed.
11.3 – Tel Aviv, 15.3 – Jerusalem, 17.3 – Haifa, 22.3 – Sderot, 19.3 – Rosh Pina

My Brothers by Paul Fraser (Ireland, 2010, 90 min. English)
Over the Halloween weekend of 1987 three young brothers embark on an epic quest: to win and bring back to their dying father a replacement for his beloved watch, which came from an amusement arcade in Ballybunnion where all their family holidays together were spent. The journey will test their relationship and ultimately lead them home. Cast: Timmy Creed, Paul Courtney, Kate Ashfield
12.3 – Tel Aviv, 22.3 – Jerusalem, 16.3 – Haifa

Swansong: Story of Occi Byrne by Conor McDermottroe (Germany/Ireland, 2009, 100 min. English with Hebrew subtitles)

Teased and bullied as a child because he has no father, Austin Byrne grows up plagued by anger, confusion and pain. In the hopes of unlocking his own identity and overcoming the past that haunts him, Austin sets out to find his father and discover the secret of his birth. Remaining fiercely loyal to his mother, Austin is consistently tested on his journey but eventually learns the true power that comes with love, friendship and most of all, a sense of belonging. Cast: Martin McCann, Jodie Whittaker, Marcella Plunket

13.3 – Tel Aviv, 26.3 – Jerusalem, 22.3 – Haifa, 16.3 – Sderot, 21.3 – Rosh Pina

Cinematheques:
Tel Aviv Cinematheque, 2 Sprinzak Street, Tel Aviv, 03-6060800
Jerusalem Cinematheque, 11 Hebron Road, Jerusalem, 02-5654356
Haifa Cinematheque, 142 Sderot HaNasi, Haifa, 04-8104299/302
Sderot Cinematheque, 4 HaDekel Street, Sderot, 08-6849695
Rosh Pina Cinematheque, 32 David Shuv Street, Rosh Pina, 04-6801453