Feast of films still to come at annual Fleadh

It’s movies all the way in Galway this week, thanks to the 26th annual Film Fleadh which opened on Tuesday.  It continues until Sunday offering a wealth of choice on the drama and documentary front.

Some films, such as this Friday night’s Glassland by Gerard Barrett have sold out, but tickets are still available for most screenings.

These include Mairéad Farrell: Unfinished Conversation, a documentary which will be screened at 2pm this Friday. Mairéad Farrell, an unarmed member of the IRA and her two male companions – also unarmed – were shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar in 1988. This was of the most controversial incidents arising from the Troubles, provoking an international outcry and enquiry.

This documentary, which Farrell’s family has criticised, claims give an insight into this young woman who was prepared to kill and die for her beliefs. Bríona Nic Dhiarmada, who was writing a book on Farrell just before she was killed, revisits the past in a personal attempt to contextualise and make sense of the life and death of Mairéad Farrell.

Joe Comerford’s film Reefer and the Model, which was premiered at the 1988 Galway Film Fleadh will be shown at 4pm this Friday, while at 6pm, it’s back to the new, with the screening of Irish-made Gold. This offbeat comedy and unconventional love story stars Dave Wilmot, Kerry Condon and Maisie Williams.

John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden was the inspiration for Though Wast Mild and Lovely, a sensual thriller from America that weaves beauty with horror. It’s on at 8.15 this Friday at IMC 7 on the Headford Road.

The documentary Brave Miss World, to be screened this Saturday, tells the story of Linor Abargil, the victim of a violent attack and rape in Milan just before being crowned Miss World in 1998.