The San Francisco Irish Film Festival

The San Francisco Irish Film Festival would like to thank our sponsors, members and supporters who made the festival a great success this year. Over 700 people came to see Ireland’s top film releases over the two nights of the 2009 San Francisco Irish Film Festival this year. Despite the economic downturn and some stiff competition from some other cultural events, we sold out three shows.

The festival opened with Ross Whitaker and Liam Nolan’s excellent and engaging documentary ‘Saviours’. The following night we screened Marion Quinn’s ‘32a’ and followed it up with the ever popular Magners and Shorts program which featured ‘New Boy’.

Over 200 people attended the opening night celebration, hosted by Consul General of Ireland
Mr. Gerry Staunton and Vice Consul Mr. Barry O’Brien, the Irish Network of San Francisco and Festival Director Niall McKay, cementing the party as an annual event on the San Francisco Irish calendar.

“The quality of the films this year was phenomenal,” said Niall McKay, director of the San Francisco Irish Film Festival. “We sold out each night because our audience know that they are going to get a great show.”

Further, the festival took a risk by screening a new comedy series called ‘Hardy Bucks’ about life in the small western town of Swinford (called Castle Town). The series was very popular with our audience. Another film that deserves a special mention is ‘God and Napoleon’.

Other films that featured in our Magners and Shorts program that attracted special attention included New Boy, Granny O Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty, The Wednesdays, Lowland Fell, Shapes, Hoor, and Spacemen Three.

This year we attracted media coverage in a number of publications including: (see below) the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner and the Irish Herald. What has become more important in recent years for drawing the audience is our own mailing list and extensive coverage on social networking sites such as the Irish Network of San Francisco and Facebook and Twitter.

We are grateful for the coverage and we believe that it helps raise the profile of Ireland’s artistic merits and abilities in the US. Last year, two of the films shown at the San Francisco Irish Film Festival, ‘Learning Gravity’ and ‘Six Farms’ went on to both the Telluride Film Festival and the Mill Valley Film Festival on our recommendation.

The San Francisco Irish Film Festival is one of the few events that draws all the constituents of the Irish community. In recent years the community has suffered because so many Irish returned home. However, this year we noticed a rise in new Irish immigrants, many working in the financial services sector. The festival is also fortunate because increasingly we are supported by San Francisco’s art house audience.

Last year, festival director Niall McKay co-founded and programmed the Los Angles Irish Film Festival with Marcus Fox and festival director Lisa McLaughlin. We will continue to broaden and deepen out ties with the Los Angles Irish Film Festival.

The Irish Consul General of Ireland Mr. Gerry Staunton, Vice Consul Mr. Barry O’Brien, and the Irish Network of San Francisco co-hosted an opening reception that was instrumental in making the festival a success. We would like to extend a special thanks to our sponsors, Magners Irish Cider, Setanta Sports, Murphy’s Irish Stout, and The Irish Dairy Board. We’d also like to thank our individual sponsors, Miles O’Reilly, Richard Spencer and Graeme Blackmore of Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants. We like to especially thank the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund and Aoife Coughlan of the Irish Film Institute for providing us with the funding and support for the festival. We were disappointed not to receive Culture Ireland funding this year, but hope to work with Culture Ireland next year.

So, once again thank you for your help and support and we look forward to the next batch of creative and interesting films from Ireland next year.

Kind Regards,
Niall McKay
Festival Director
Una Fannon
Deputy Director

The San Francisco Irish Film Festival

For more information please go to www.sfirishfilm.com
For photos of the festival please go to http://picasaweb.google.com/deeNiall/2008SFIrishFilmFestivalPress

Please review our press coverage

SF GATE

http://events.sfgate.com/san-francisco-ca/events/show/86350694-san-francisco-irish-film-festival

SF Station

http://www.sfstation.com/san-francisco-irish-film-festival-e6774

http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1900648/

http://hornpipe.net/?p=614

http://www.irishconnect.org/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&agid=18&year=2008&month=3&day=5&Itemid=29

Opening Reception at The Pork Store Cafe

Come for a drink, some cheese and some cheer (oh you will, you will, you will!)

The Pork Store Cafe, 3122 16th St. near Valencia San Francisco, CA 94103. (Across the street from Roxie Cinema)