Gary revels in job that lets him share the joy of film

City Lives – Bernie Ní Fhlatharta meets the Programmer of Galway Film Fleadh Gar O’Brien

It’s not every day you meet someone who really loves their job, but Gar O’Brien, the Programmer for the Galway Film Fleadh adores film.

When he’s not watching movies for his work, he is going to the cinema for enjoyment, attending film festivals elsewhere or talking about film.

Yes, this Corkman almost eats, drinks and sleeps film so audiences can rest assured that the 100 films, the 75 shorts and the various documentaries chosen for this year’s six-day Fleadh, which opens next Tuesday, are going to be top class.

There’s a mix of international and Irish film for and Gar knows that anyone who’s serious about the Irish film industry will be attending the Fleadh, either as a patron enjoying the vibe, or using the event as a networking platform. During the week, many deals will be brokered and a number of film projects will have been germinated in Galway.

As well as screening films, the Fleadh is also a platform for the industry and many meetings take place between filmmakers, sponsors and organisers from other film festivals, the Sundance Film Festival being one example.

The Film Fleadh showed Once a few years ago; it was seen by someone from Sundance; then it was shown at that US festival and the rest is history. Its screening in the US led to one of its featured songs, Falling Softly, being nominated for and winning an Oscar.

And over the years, the Fleadh hasn’t been short of ‘stars’ though after working for a decade with the festival, it would take a lot – “maybe the Coen Brothers” – to make Gar star struck.

This year’s guest is Oscar winner, Brenda Fricker, whose most recent film, possibly her very last as she has retired, A Long Way from Home, is being shown on the last night (July 13).

Gar loves Irish films though he stresses that he doesn’t have “a favourite genre” and believes the industry is very healthy and creative at the moment. That could be a direct response to the hunger for film in these recessionary times as the number of cinema-goers has greatly increased in recent years.

Bladerunner is his own all-time favourite film though he loves any film with a narrative, a story, something to say.

He watches films on a large Apple Mac in the Fleadh office off Merchants Road but doesn’t mind watching more films for leisure either at home or in the cinema.

“No, I don’t need glasses. . .  yet but maybe I will. I watch films to enjoy them. My girlfriend would be more inclined to be picky about continuity, not me.

“We have some great Irish-made films this year and we have returned to some of the old Galway-made films, like Reefer and the Model, which started the whole Fleadh 26 years ago. We have featured local talent such as actor Emma Eliza Regan from Moycullen (Darkness on the Edge of Town) and Galway-based directors, Dieter Auner (Dreams of a Clown) and Tom Collins (An Bronntanas).”

Gar is very proud of the fact that the festival also includes through provoking documentaries. One of them, Brave Miss World, is the story of a Miss World contender in 1998 who was violently raped in Milan and her subsequent campaign to reach out to other survivors around the world.

Of course, there’s fun too and in 26 years, the Galway Film Fleadh has managed to keep its informality. It’s city-centre centre location makes it one of the more intimate festivals.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.