Michael Fassbender to host Actors Masterclass at Galway Film Fleadh

The 21st Galway Film Fleadh and the Galway Film Centre, in association with Fas Screen Training Ireland, are delighted to announce that award winning actor Michael Fassbender is the subject of this year's Actors Masterclass.

The Master Class will take place on Saturday, July 11th and will be facilitated by leading casting agents, Ros Hubbard and Mary Maguire. The Class is open to all aspiring and budding actors and those interested should submit a CV to Mary Deely in the Galway Film Centre, Cluain Mhuire, Monivea Road, Galway. For further information please call 091 770748 or email masterclasses@galwayfilmfleadh.com

The Galway Film Fleadh will pay tribute to Michael Fassbender who is fast becoming a very respected Irish actor. He recently had main roles in two of the twenty films in competition in this year's Cannes Film Festival. These were INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, directed by Quentin Tarantino and FISH TANK, directed by Andrea Arnold. This in itself is quite an achievement.

Michael played Lt. Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino's INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and there is an ironic twist to this as his first acting assignment, 15 years ago, was in a stage version of Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS.

Within that fifteen-year interim, Fassbender has established himself as a serious actor, learning his craft through Band Of Brothers, Colin Bateman's MURPHY'S LAW and playing the part of Esme in Francois Ozon's wonderful ANGEL.

Little prepared the uninitiated for Fassbender's breakout, multi-award winning performance in Steve McQueen's stunning HUNGER. Fassbender only appears in the final two acts of the movie yet his portrayal of hunger striker, Bobby Sands is so complete, alive and dynamic that his performance possesses the movie.

He lost 40 pounds for this role, as the latter half of the movie chronicles Sand's physical disintegration. This is in contrast to his role as Stelios in Zack Synder's 300, the previous year, where he played a Spartan warrior.

As part of the Fleadh's tribute to Michael Fassbender, HUNGER will screen on Friday July 10th.

Christopher Hampton to give Screenwriters Masterclass at the 21st Galway Film Fleadh

The 21st Galway Film Fleadh and the Galway Film Centre, in association with Northern Ireland Screen, have just announced that Christopher Hampton will give a Screenwriters Master Class at this year's Fleadh , which is open to all budding and experienced writers.

Christopher's most recently released film, Atonement, won Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards for Best Picture. Cheri, directed by Stephen Frears, premiered at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival.

His other screenplays include The Quiet American, Mary Reilly, Total Eclipse, Dangerous Liaisons, Carrington, The Secret Agent and Imagining Argentina, the last three of which he also directed.

Prizes for his film and television work include an Academy Award, two BAFTAs, a Writer's Guild of America Award, the Prix Italia, a Special Jury Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Hollywood Screenwriter of the Year 2007 and The Collateral Award at the Venice Film Festival for Best Literary Adaptation.

Christopher Hampton's plays, musicals and translations have garnered three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, four Evening Standard awards and the New York Theatre Critics Circle Award.

He has written a wide range of award winning plays including The Talking Cure, White Chameleon, Tales From Hollywood, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Treats, Savages, The Philanthropist and Total Eclipse.

Christopher Hampton also wrote the book and lyrics (with Don Black) for the musicals, Sunset Boulevard and Dracula, and the libretto for the Philip Glass operas, Waiting For The Barbarians and Appomattox.

To honour the presence of Christopher Hampton at the festival, the 21st Galway Film Fleadh will screen Atonement, Imagining Argentina and The Quiet American.

The Master Class will take place on Thursday afternoon, July 9th in the Radisson Hotel, Galway. Atonement will be screened in the morning. For further information or to apply for a place, contact Mary Deely at 091-770748 or masterclasses@galwayfilmfleadh.com Those interested should submit a CV/Biography. The masterclass costs 50euro.

KFF Films Make Splash in North America

Winners at the Kerry Film Festival 2008 Awards Ceremony

The Kerry Film Festival, which is celebrating ten years of bringing film to the people of Kerry, has partnered with a number of films festivals across the globe in a move to promote Irish Shorts and to advocate for screenings of films that have played at KFF.

"We've very proud of the films we screen and absolutely believe that they should have an audience all around the world," said Jason O' Mahony, Director of the Kerry Film Festival. "To that end we've partnered with a number of festivals in Spain, Italy, Canada and America to promote the shorts which screen in our Festival."

The fruits of that labour were seen in April when Declan Cassidy's short film WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON, winner of the Best Irish Short Film at KFF 2008, was selected to play in the Chicago Irish Film Festival. It subsequently went on to win an honourable mention in Chicago.

"WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON is a wonderful little film and everyone here was blown away by it, we were thrilled to be able to recommend such a scorching hot short to Chicago and delighted that it won an honourable mention from the audience," added O' Mahony. "Declan's film has a heart of gold and manages in a few short minutes what many feature-length films fail to do in as many hours!"

Next up is the Nickel Film Festival, based in Newfoundland in Canada. Kerry Film Festival recommended a number of short films to the Festival and five shorts from KFF 2008 will play in the festival which takes place from Tuesday, June 23rd to Saturday, June 27th.

Declan Cassidy's film will again feature and will be joined by Irish Shorts: Michael Lavelle's OUT OF THE BLUE; Mark Noonan's QUESTIONS and the KFF 2008 Winning Short Brian Durnin's OF BEST INTENTIONS. Also screening in Canada is German Short OUR WONDERFUL NATURE, winner of Best Animated Short at KFF 2008.

"It's such a joy to watch the audience reaction to those shorts, I really wish I was able to take the trip to Canada," laughed O' Mahony.

Samhlaiocht is supported through grant aid from The Arts Council, Kerry County Council, Failte Ireland and by the generous corporate sponsorship of Kerry Group.

For more information on Samhlaiocht please log on to www.samhlaiocht.com

For more information on the Nickel Film Festival please log onto www.nickelfestival.com

Kerry Film Festival Issues Call for Entries

Decaln Cassidy's WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON

Winner of Best Irish Short KFF 2008

The Samhlaiocht Kerry Film Festival, which is celebrating ten years of bringing film to the people of Kerry, has issued a call for entries for the Kerry Film Festival 2009, which runs from October 31st to November 7th.

"The Kerry Film Festival is committed to playing a leading role in providing a forum for emerging talent in film," said Jason O' Mahony, Director of the Kerry Film Festival. "This dedication is evidenced by both the quality of the films screened and the prizes on offer, with a top cash prize of 5,000 euro for KFF's Best Director, as well as a number of prizes in other categories including Best Irish Short, Best International Short, Best Documentary Short and Best Animated Short."

All prizes including Best Director will be selected by a jury of internationally renowned film professionals. Past adjudicators of the Kerry Film Festival Short Film Competition have included such luminaries as Liam Neeson, Jim Sheridan, Neil Jordan and Gabriel Byrne.

When asked what makes KFF special O, Mahony said, "I think having so many of the filmmakers on hand to speak about their films and their creative journey ensures a rewarding film festival experience for both the filmmaker and the audience. One of the advantages of KFF, I suppose, is that it's such an intimate little festival but the quality of the films and quality of the adjudicators consistently punches above its weight."

While the main focus of the festival will continue to be on shorts, this year sees an extension of the programme. "Last year was our most successful Festival so far," said O' Mahony. "We screened more films to more people in more venues that ever before and this year we're hoping to top that!" The 2009 edition of the Festival will see an expansion of the feature programme which proved so successful in 2008, KFF 2009 will also see more Education screenings, more active retired screenings and a larger workshop programme.

For more information on the Kerry Film Festival or to download application forms please log on to www.kerryfilmfestival.com