Will sees the big picture

Lifestyle – Having adapted to Covid for the past two years, the Galway Film Fleadh returns to normal venues next month with a comprehensive programme of drama and documentaries. There are many premieres and some moments of nostaliga too, with themes including the Irish Civil War, the war in Ukraine and what to do when you can’t play GAA anymore. Director of Programming Will Fitzgerald tells JUDY MURPHY how he approaches his job.

Will Fitzgerald spends his free time going to the cinema. There’s nothing unusual in that, admittedly, except that for Will, it’s like a bus-driver’s holiday, because his day job is Director of Programming for the Galway Film Fleadh.

But films are his passion and going into a darkened auditorium to see a movie on the big screen, with his mobile turned off, allows him to get lost in the action.

When he’s working, selecting films for the Fleadh, the demands are different, but he relishes them and is delighted to be back, presenting a regular festival after two years of disruption.

The Fleadh did take place in a modified format during Covid, he stresses, but this year, screenings will be in normal venues and the Festival Club will return to Galway Rowing Club.

The programme for the Fleadh, which will run from July 5-10, was launched on Tuesday and Will is delighted to have that formality out of the way.

“There’s been great buy-in this year,” he says of the process. “People are delighted to be coming back and doing it properly again.”

And there’s a treat in store, with a programme that includes 20 world premieres, 33 Irish premieres and 108 short films from 30 different countries.

Although Will didn’t set out with a theme when he was choosing this year’s films, unsurprisingly, perhaps, there’s a strong focus on finding refuge.

“The vision for the festival comes out when you are putting it together,” he explains. “I might have ideas for certain sections, such as marking the 100th anniversary of the Civil War or Ukrainian cinema but I don’t go in with an overarching theme.”

The theme that emerged this year relates to sanctuary, something that’s reflected on the cover of the printed programme.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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