China Celebrates Irish Film at SIFF

A major celebration of Irish film in China will take place at SIFF today, supported by Culture Ireland and presented in association with IFI Reel Ireland and the Irish Film Board.  The season of Irish work at SIFF will form part of an extensive Irish cultural programme which is taking place at EXPO 2010 Shanghai.

 

A special programme of Irish contemporary and retrospective feature films including Five Minutes of Heaven, Once, The Secret of Kells, Michael Collins and My Left Foot along with a host of live action and animated shorts has been selected to screen at both festivals to spotlight Irish film and filmmaking talent.  The programme of 13 feature films includes a number of Asian premieres including Triage starring Colin Farrell.

 

Neil Jordan\'s Ondine and John Carney\'s Zonad have been nominated for the prestigious Golden Goblet Awards at SIFF which is Asia\'s equivalent of the Academy Awards.  The two Irish films were selected from over 2,300 films from 81 countries and regions to be shortlisted with 14 other films for the awards. Other films shortlisted include Italian director Gabriele Muccino\'s Kiss Me Again, Canadian filmmaker Leo Pool\'s The Last Escape, Japanese director Masaru Shimomura\'s Partnersand two Chinese productions  Deep in the Clouds by Liu Jie and Ocean Heaven by Xue Xiaolu.  This is the first time that an Irish film has been nominated for the accolade.

 

The 13th SIFF is the only A category film festival in China and is due to attract over 300,000 cinemagoers this year.  The Jury President of the Golden Goblet Award is veteran film director John Woo.  Some of the Irish talent attending SIFF include Kieran Carney (director of Zonad), Andrew Lowe (producer of Zonad) and Simon Delaney who starred as Zonad in the film. Screenings of Zonad and Ondine will coincide with President Mary McAleese\'s visit to EXPO 2010 to mark Ireland\'s National Day on 17th June. 

 

Eugene Downes, Chief Executive of Culture Ireland, the state agency for the promotion of Irish arts abroad, commented: "This is a great opportunity for Chinese audiences to connect with Irish film, and with Ireland."

Simon Perry, Chief Executive of Bord Scannan na heireann/the Irish Film Board said: "The inclusion of a programme of Irish cinema at these two major Chinese film festivals is tremendously gratifying.  The promotion of Irish talent in this huge and vital market can yield significant dividends in terms of enterprise, trade and investment."

Sarah Glennie, Director, Irish Film Institute said "The sheer breadth of Irish film presented within these  important Festivals is testament to the growing interest in Irish culture in China.  We are delighted to work with Irish Film Board and Culture Ireland to deliver this programme of quality Irish cinema through the IFI Reel Ireland touring cinema programme."

Box Promotions (Patrice Poujol and Brian Fogarty) together with Accurate Group (Niall O\'Reilly) initiated the celebration of Irish film in China theme, and are responsible for on-the-ground event coordination in Shanghai and Beijing.

Patrice Poujol: "This is a chance for China and Ireland to exchange thoughts and culture and share mutual understanding through the relatively modern medium of film."

Niall O\'Reilly, Accurate Group:" China represents one of the most exciting new market opporturities for the distributionw of Irish Films. We also look forward to opening up Ireland to films from China."