Clare Island Film Festival 2020

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Our 2019 event was a fantastic celebration of Film, Music, Connection and our stunning island home…..we will be taking a break in 2020.

The creatives behind CIFF are working on an exciting new moving image event for 2020. Update to follow!

Thanks to the Filmmakers, Festival Team, Sailors Bar Bard Room, Community Centre, Stone Barn, Raphaelle McCabe, Film Mayo and to all who have helped in any way and that includes you the Audiences.

 Fantastic films, engaged audiences, filmmaker guests, live music, fireside sessions, sea swims, cliff walks, long talks, new friends, that brunch and of course…DANCING!

 

Man Of Aran

with LIVE original score from Simon O’Reilly & Dr. Alec Brown

Sat 7th September 2019

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This iconic 1934 film Man of Aran directed by Robert Joseph Flaherty will be screened with a live, original, contemporary score featuring pedal steel guitar, cello, guitars and electronics by Simon O’Reilly and Alec Brown.

Man of Aran is a 1934 Irish fictional documentary (ethnofiction) film directed by Robert J. Flaherty about life on the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. It portrays characters living in premodern conditions, documenting their daily routines such as fishing off high cliffs, farming potatoes where there is little soil, and hunting for huge basking sharks to get liver oil for lamps. Some situations are fabricated, such as one scene in which the shark fishermen are almost lost at sea in a sudden gale. Additionally, the family members shown are not actually related, having been chosen from among the islanders for their photogenic qualities.

George Stoney’s 1978 documentary How the Myth was Made, which is included in the special features of the DVD, relates that the Aran Islanders had not hunted sharks in this way for over fifty years at the time the film was made. Man of Aran is Flaherty’s re-creation of culture on the edges of modern society, even though much of the primitive life depicted had been left behind by the 1930s. It is impressive, however, for its drama, for its spectacular cinematography of landscape and seascape, and for its concise editing.

Biographies

Simon O’Reilly is a guitarist, composer,  producer and the co founder of Music Minds festival. He is based in Lahinch on the west of Ireland where he has his studio. He has worked with some of Ireland’s finest musicians including The Contempo Quartette, Davey Spillane, Twin Headed Wolf, Kila, Luka Bloom, and The Monks Of Glenstal amongst others. He has written music for award winning films and many documentaries including Sundance award winner The Summit. His 2016 solo album Evolve was Nailer9s Irish Times album of the week and was in 2FMs Dan Hegarty’s top 10 albums of 2016.

 

Dr. Alec Brown is a contemporary cellist living in Limerick, Ireland.  He recently completed  a PhD at the University of Limerick specialising in Irish traditional music on the cello, he is also deeply rooted in many other genres including; classical, folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues, and many more.  After studying with cellists such as Dr. Stephen Feldman, Natalie Haas, Rushad Eggleston, Neil Martin and others, Alec has developed a unique contemporary style that spans multiple genres of music.  He has performed on Broadway and extensively throughout Ireland and in parts of Europe with a wide range of bands and artists. 

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We are delighted to have Blakes Always Organic on board to kindly sponsor our main screening event of festival 2019. Blakes will be joining us for the festival and if you are lucky you will get the opportunity to try some of their wonderful products.

 

Like our Facebook page for news and trailers between now and next festival!

If you want to find out more about our little get together please check out the clip below from festival 2014.