IFI Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Film Festival 15th-18th April 2010 2

IFI Stranger Than Fiction2010 Cover: Space Tourists Director Christian Frei Introduction IFI Stranger ThanFiction Partners IFI PrincipalFunder present intheformof Biographical fi excellent Border American politics, examination ofSouth such asOliverStone’s slightly moreepicinscope Fiction, tofi premiere atIFIStrangerThan Affair Colvard’s remarkable personal fi range fromintimate,deeply events. Thefestival’sofferings archive titlesandnumerous fi with twenty-twodocs,short have plentytochoosefrom No matteryourtaste,you’ll entertain, informandinspire. documentaries thatpromiseto festival –fourdaysof Stranger ThanFictionfi Welcome tothe9thIFI celebration ofthelifeCandy James Rasin’saffectionate animator; life oftheOscar-nominated production thatlooksatthe Murakami: NonAlien lms, specialpresentationsof , receivingitsEuropean , orJoséPadilha’s Secrets oftheTribe lms suchasChico Beautiful Darling lms whichare lmmaking is South ofthe , anIrish Family Jimmy lm , . documentary, we’llhaveaday little deeperintotheworldof And ifyou’relookingtodelvea over adrinkintheIFICaféBar. discussion oraninformalchat post-screening Q&A,apanel work, beitaspartofa be onhandtodiscusstheir and anumberofguestswill to engagewiththefi unless itoffersupthechance A fi smile onyourface. leaving thecinemawitha fi video victimJackRebney. Two Man comedy-duo, and twin-lesbian-yodelling- to NewZealand’sonly funny andtouchingtribute Topp Twins excellent documentary worse thancheckingoutthe a comedicbentcoulddofar Those lookingfordocswith the hitsoffestival. Hicks Story innovative and Paul Thomas’brilliantly Darling; plusMattHarlock lms guaranteedtohaveyou lm festivalisnota , ahystericallookatviral , suretobeoneof , anincredibly American: TheBill Winnebago lmmakers, The programmer IFI StrangerThanFiction Niall Macpherson other treatsinstore. further –therearesomany encouraged youtoexplore festival’s programmehas I hopethisglimpseintothe fi open thefestivalwith We’re thrilledtobeable view ofteenagelifeinDublin. Pyjama Girls director MayaDerrington’s fi kicking offthefestivalwitha of horseracing.We’ll alsobe imaginative takeontheworld Horses Broken Tail disappearance ofatiger, the truthbehind Johnson’s questtofi including ColinStafford- screening inthefestival represented withsixfi Irish fi Friday 16thApril(seepage14). of freeeventsandtalkson lm’s worldpremiere. lm madeveryclosetohome, lmmaking is well , aunique,hugely , andLizMermin’s , acaptivating nd lms rdy1t pi Seepage14for detailsonaday offree events 12.00 Friday 16thApril 18.30 Thursday 15thApril 20.30 18.00 16.00 15.15 14.15 13.30 12.15 12.15 Sunday 18thApril 20.30 18.30 16.30 16.00 14.30 14.15 12.30 12.00 Saturday 17thApril 20.30 18.45 17.00 16.00 15.30 14.15 13.45 12.15 fi package pricesof€40for5 costs €15.Therearespecial post-screening receptionand opening fi Tickets opening fi and thepackageexcludes must beforadifferentfi but eachticketpurchased lms and€70for10fi cost€9,exceptforthe lm whichincludesa lm. lms, lm feedback@irishfi lm.ie please emailanycommentsto experiences attheIFI,so We’d love to hearaboutyour or onlineat on 016793477 or fromtheBoxOffi Dublin 2 Temple Bar, IFI, 6EustaceStreet, Tickets areavailable The SunBehindtheClouds Girls Opening Film:Pyjama The Topp Twins Horses South oftheBorder La danse A Prayer for theWind Horse Secrets oftheTribe Archive Programme 2 Short FilmProgramme Strange Powers Beautiful Darling Winnebago Man Family Aff Broken Tail Good Hair Girls Pyjama Archive Programme 1 American: The BillHicksStory Downtown Calling Gilbert O’Sullivan –OutOnHisOwn Jimmy Murakami: NonAlien Last Train Home Videocracy Sins ofmy Father Space Tourists +Q&A www.ifi air +Q&A

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.ie Booking Schedule 3 Information OPENING INTERNATIONAL FILM FILMS

rom the Paris Opera Ballet to the Brazilian rainforest, from a Texan comedy club to the Pyjama steppes of Kazakhstan, and from the railways of China to the streets of New York, this truly F international line-up of sixteen fi lms from ten Girls countries tells stories which span the globe. Addressing Thursday 15th April, 18.30 topics as wide-ranging as politics, crime, music, club culture, Saturday 17th April, 12.30 WORLD PREMIERE media, anthropology, fashion and Buddhism, they’re as Director: Maya Derrington • Ireland diverse in subject matter as they are in nationality. 2010 • c80 mins

Pyjama Girls follows the lives of a group of girls who wear, you guessed it, pyjamas, all The Sun Behind the Clouds: day, every day. Focusing principally on Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom teenagers Lauren and Tara, the fi lm examines the intense micro-dramas and emotional complexities of their lives in the close-knit March 2008 saw the biggest Tibetan uprising since China took community of Dublin’s inner city fl ats. In the control of the country in 1959. As a show of solidarity, many exiled noisy, tumultuous world of the fl ats, it’s the Tibetans marched on their homeland, determined to support boys who make themselves heard. their countrymen. It was a year of dramatic possibilities for the Meanwhile, the girls express themselves country. For more than 20 years, the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual through the visual language of young women and political leader, has pursued his Middle Way Approach: – clothes and fashion. Their dress sense is giving up the goal of Tibet’s independence in return for genuine read as a badge of social standing, yet while autonomy. But China has consistently rejected his proposal. Now, wearing pyjamas during the day links them more and more Tibetans are questioning his strategy. In this together, in the fi lm, it is this trend that Friday 16th April, 12.00 superb documentary, with unprecedented access to the Dalai provides a visual springboard from which we IRISH PREMIERE Lama, fi lmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam ask if his path of gain insight into their individual lives. Maya Directors: Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam peace and compromise will fi nd a solution for Tibet. Or will the Derrington’s touching documentary excels in India/UK • 2009 • 79 mins voices calling for independence prevail? presenting an honest, intimate view of teenage life in Dublin. We’re thrilled to open this year’s IFI Stranger Than Fiction festival with the fi lm’s world premiere. Space Tourists

Q&A with director Maya Derrington, Christian Frei’s fi lm delves into the phenomenon of space producer Nicky Gogan and Pyjama Girls. tourism where billionaires pay huge sums of money to become astronauts as part of the Russian space programme. Anousheh Ansari dreamt of going into outer space since childhood. A number of years and $20 million later, she realised her dream – Ansari became the fi rst female space tourist. Featuring stunning scenes, the fi lm documents her preparations and accompanies her on her day-to-day existence aboard the International Space Station. The magnifi cent beauty of space is contrasted with Kazakhstan’s almost post-apocalyptic terrain, where disused rockets and space shuttles, the remnants of the Soviet space Friday 16th April, 12.15 programme, litter the landscape. Humorous and always utterly IRISH PREMIERE fascinating, Space Tourists won Frei a best director prize at this Director: Christian Frei year’s Sundance Film Festival. Switzerland • 2009 • 98 mins

4 IFI Stranger Than Fiction 2010 www.ifi .ie 5 Sins of my Father Downtown Calling

Nicolas Entel’s Sins of my Father is an extraordinary examination In the late 1970s New York City was teetering on the edge of total of the life of Pablo Escobar as seen through the eyes of his only chaos. A failed economy, crime and en masse housing corruption son, Sebastian Marroquin. Escobar was the most notorious drug gave way to a city in crisis. Yet, as is often the case, out of the lord in Colombian history, whose reign of terror and violence economic and social strife that held the city hostage, a family of killed hundreds of people from all walks of life. In agreeing to homegrown cultures that would forever change the world began appear in this fi lm, he and his mother, Maria Victoria, break more to emerge and thrive. Narrated by Debbie Harry, and featuring than a decade of silence after living in virtual exile in Argentina. contributions from Mos Def, Chris Stein, TV on the Radio and Fab It is the fi rst time either has spoken about Escobar since he was 5 Freddy, to name a few, Downtown Calling not only documents, gunned down in 1993. Unsurprisingly, Marroquin has been in fascinating detail, the evolution of New York City’s fertile deeply affected by his father’s actions and the fi lm shows him music and art subculture during this period, but looks at how its grappling with the task of reconciling his confl icting images of collective output continues to play a prominent, driving role in the Friday 16th April, 13.45 him – one, the doting father and family man, the other, the Friday 16th April, 18.45 international fashion, art and music industries today. IRISH PREMIERE stone-hearted drug traffi cker and murderer. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE Director: Nicolas Entel Director: Shan Nicholson Q&A with producer Michael Holman. Argentina • 2009 • 94 mins USA • 2009 • 80 mins

Videocracy American: The Bill Hicks Story

In Italy one man has infl uenced the content of commercial With so many die-hard, passionate fans out there, nothing but television like no one else. For over three decades, as a TV the most fi tting tribute to Bill Hicks would suffi ce. He was, simply, magnate and then as Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi has a genius – a man whose bravery, unwavering honesty and anger created a perfect system of TV entertainment and politics. His made him one of the most infl uential and revered comedians TV channels, known for their over-exposure of almost naked in living memory. Told by the people who knew him best – his girls and chauvinistic tone, are seen by many as a mirror to his family and closest friends – the documentary examines Hicks’ own taste and personality. In the excellent Videocracy, director life from his childhood in Houston, to his early career performing Erik Gandini returns to his homeland to explore an experiment in comedy workshops (while still in high school), to his struggle that Italians have been subjected to for 30 years. With incredible with drugs and alcohol and, ultimately, to his success fi nding a access to Berlusconi’s inner circle, he unveils a remarkable story, unique and uncompromising comedic voice that continues to borne out of the terrifying reality of TV republic Italy, a country inspire millions. Paul Thomas and Matt Harlock’s documentary Friday 16th April, 14.15 where the step from showgirl to Minister for Gender Equality is Friday 16th April, 20.30 is innovative, brilliantly constructed, and more than succeeds in Director: Erik Gandini only natural. IRISH PREMIERE paying tribute to this icon of comedy. Italy • 2009 • 85 mins Directors: Matt Harlock & Paul Thomas UK • 2009 • 110 mins Q&A with directors Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas.

Last Train Home Good Hair

Last Train Home is an emotionally engaging and visually stunning An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull debut fi lm from Chinese-Canadian director Lixin Fan. It draws off, Good Hair visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientifi c us into the fractured lives of a single migrant family, the Zhangs, laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles attempting to be reunited while caught up in a desperate impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and annual migration. Every Chinese New Year, the country’s cities self-esteem of the black community. Director Jeff Stilson follows are plunged into chaos as all at once countless workers make Chris Rock on this raucous adventure prompted by Rock’s the journey from the new industrial areas to their villages in the daughter approaching him and asking, “Daddy, how come I provinces. Fan’s fi lm tells an intimate and heart-wrenching story don’t have good hair?” Haircare professionals, beautyshop and of one family’s experience in new China, while exploring the barbershop patrons, as well as celebrities including Ice-T, Nia massive social changes taking place in the country as a whole. Long, Raven Symoné, Maya Angelou, Salt ‘n’ Pepa and Reverend One of the most critically acclaimed fi lms of the year, it recently Al Sharpton all candidly offer their stories and observations to Friday 16th April, 15.30 won the prestigious VPRO IDFA Award for best feature-length Saturday 17th April, 14.15 Rock while he struggles with the task of fi guring out how to IRISH PREMIERE documentary. IRISH PREMIERE respond to his daughter’s question. A hugely entertaining and Director: Lixin Fan Director: Jeff Stilson enlightening documentary. Canada • 2009 • 80 mins Presented in association with The Radharc Trust. USA • 2009 • 96 mins

6 IFI Stranger Than Fiction 2010 www.ifi .ie 7 Family Aff air Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields At the age of ten, after discovering his father’s military rifl es in his home, Chico Colvard accidentally shot one of his sisters in A subtitle near the beginning of this wonderful fi lm states that the leg. The accident would have far-reaching and unexpected “to some, they’re an iconic band. To most, they’re completely consequences – believing she would die from her injuries, his unknown”. If your knowledge of Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic sister revealed she and her two sisters had suffered years of Fields puts you in the latter camp, this fi lm will serve as a fantastic extreme sexual abuse at their father’s hands. Decades later, introduction to one of the most interesting and uniquely talented Colvard, having cut off contact with his father for fi fteen years, bands working today. If you’re already a fan, it’s an absolute attended a Thanksgiving celebration where he was shocked to must-see. Ten years in the making, Strange Powers looks at the see his father warmly welcomed by a number of adoring family creative process behind Merritt’s music as well as exploring his members, his sisters and friends. Unable to reconcile his sisters’ relationships, placing particular emphasis on his friendship with behaviour with the appalling abuse they suffered, Colvard longtime manager and collaborator Claudia Gonson. Funny, Saturday 17th April, 16.00 decided to make this highly personal and unforgettable fi lm. Saturday 17th April, 20.30 touching and featuring some great live performances, fi lmmakers EUROPEAN PREMIERE EUROPEAN PREMIERE Kerthy Fix and Gail O’Hara have created one of the best music Director: Chico David Colvard Q&A with director Chico Colvard. Directors: Kerthy Fix & Gail O’Hara documentaries in recent years. USA • 2010 • 80 mins USA • 2010 • 82 mins Q&A with co-director Kerthy Fix.

Winnebago Man Secrets of the Tribe

Jack Rebney, a.k.a. “the angriest man in the world”, has The fi eld of anthropology is explored in this hugely compelling delighted and fascinated millions of viewers with the hilariously documentary from director José Padilha (Bus 174). The fi lm foul-mouthed and ill-tempered outtakes from a recreational examines several decades of questionable research of Amazonian vehicle sales video he made in 1989 – one of the fi rst and best Brazil’s Yanomami tribe, once considered the last, purest, underground videos to be passed hand-to-hand on VHS tapes, primitive society untouched by outside infl uence. Padilha before the Internet turned him into a full-blown phenomenon. primarily focuses on the work of two American scientists, Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer takes on the task of tracking down Napoleon Chagnon and Kenneth Good. Chagnon’s conclusions Rebney, and his journey turns into a fascinating exploration of and data put him at loggerheads with Good who sees the viral video culture, and what it means on a personal level to its Yanomami as relatively peaceful people, whereas Chagnon’s sometimes unwilling subjects. When he fi nally tracks down career has been built upon his belief that they are inherently Rebney, the real man is more savvy, weird, and cool than you violent. The vicious in-fi ghting in the anthropological community Saturday 17th April, 16.30 could have possibly imagined. Winnebago Man is an intelligent, Sunday 18th April, 13.30 is truly eye-opening and the ramifi cations of their involvement IRISH PREMIERE hilarious and unexpectedly poignant look at one man’s response EUROPEAN PREMIERE in the lives of the Yanomami is, at times, incredibly shocking to Director: Ben Steinbauer to Internet notoriety. Director: José Padilha behold. It’s an excellent fi lm, thought-provoking and gripping USA • 2009 • 87 mins Brazil • 2010 • 94 mins from start to fi nish.

Beautiful Darling: La danse – The Paris Opera Ballet The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar Frederick Wiseman’s La danse sees the director returning to what is clearly a personal passion. His 1995 fi lm, Ballet, examined New Beautiful Darling pays tribute to the short but infl uential life of an York’s American Ballet Theatre. On this occasion the fi lmmaker extraordinary individual, the actress Candy Darling. Born James presents a rigorously detailed look at the inner workings of the Slattery in a Long Island suburb in 1944, by the mid-60s James Paris Opera Ballet. This astounding, beautiful documentary had become Candy, a gorgeous, blonde actress and well-known shows in fascinating detail how this vast organisation functions, downtown New York fi gure – part of Warhol’s Factory crowd, and from administration to the costume department, technical famously name-checked in the Velvet Underground’s Walk on support and classes, to the rehearsal and performances of seven the Wildside. This moving fi lm expertly combines excerpts from ballets, including The Nutcracker and more contemporary works. Darling’s journals and letters (read by Chloe Sevigny) describing Wiseman’s classic, observational style allows the audience how she arrived in Manhattan to pursue her dream of becoming to immerse itself in this remarkable world, gaining a greater Saturday 17th April, 18.30 a star, fi lm clips, previously unseen footage and photographs Sunday 18th April, 15.15 appreciation and understanding of the work that goes into IRISH PREMIERE showing Candy from suburban childhood through to the height Director: Frederick Wiseman presenting a world-class ballet. It’s an utterly engrossing and Director: James Rasin of fame. Interviews with Jayne County, Penny Arcade, Paul France • 2009 • 160 mins extraordinarily accomplished fi lm from one of the world’s USA • 2009 • 82 mins Morrissey, Fran Lebowitz, John Waters and Darling’s closest friend greatest documentary makers. Jeremiah Newton provide further insight into her remarkable life.

Q&A with producers Jeremiah Newton and Michael Newman. 8 IFI Stranger Than Fiction 2010 www.ifi .ie 9 South of the Border IRISH FILMS Clearly frustrated by the half-truths and sensationalistic tone adopted by the U.S. right-wing media (Fox News, in particular) when reporting on South America, Oliver Stone’s documentary on the politics of the region can be read as a rebuttal of sorts. He n addition to our opening night fi lm, the wonderful begins his political tour in Venezuela with Hugo Chávez, whose election is seen by many as a turning point in the recent political Pyjama Girls, we are delighted to present fi ve more history of South America, before moving on to speak to the fi lms which showcase the outstanding work of leaders of Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Brazil. What each has in common is a desire for independence, equality, and freedom Ireland’s documentary fi lmmakers. There are stories from the International Monetary Fund and U.S. economic control. from both home and abroad: fi lms that tell tales of Tariq Ali’s informed comments lend the fi lm additional weight, I Sunday 18th April, 16.00 but it’s very much Stone’s fi lm. Not always subtle, perhaps, but lost tigers and Himalayan adventures; a fi lm which lets you IRISH PREMIERE an entertaining and thought-provoking fi lm examining a historic Director: Oliver Stone period in South American politics. experience the life of a racehorse; and fi lms that inspire USA • 2009 • 102 mins through the lives of others.

Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien

This is the enthralling story of fi lmmaker, artist and animator Jimmy Murakami (The Snowman, When the Wind Blows). The fi lm explores a period of his life that has, until now, remained hidden. At the age of seven he and his family were incarcerated in Tule Lake Concentration Camp in Northern California, after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Considered a threat to national security they spent four years in the camp where, along with many thousands of Japanese-Americans, they suffered countless humiliations and an enormous loss of freedom. Now in early retirement, he has decided to return to this period of his life by creating a series of stunning paintings that illuminate his Friday 16th April, 16.00 memories of prison life. This captivating documentary follows Director: Sé Merry Doyle Murakami, who has lived in Ireland for forty years, on an Ireland • 2010 • 90 mins emotional return to Tule Lake.

Q&A with the fi lmmaker.

Gilbert O’Sullivan – Out On His Own

In the early 1970s, Waterford-born Gilbert O’Sullivan was top of The Topp Twins: the international pop charts. But in the mid-70s his career began to wane and by the time he came out of a long legal dispute with his manager Gordon Mills, he had drifted into relative obscurity. Untouchable Girls Yet from his homes on Jersey and in Nashville, the 62-year-old O’Sullivan is still touring and recording, still songwriting as a proper Monday-to-Friday nine-to-fi ve job, driven to achieve again Sunday 18th April, 20.30 yodelling, lesbian, country-and- activists and campaigners too. The the chart success he once had. Commissioned from Wildfi re Films IRISH PREMIERE western-singing comedians, Jools fi lm has won awards around the for RTÉ Television’s Arts Lives strand, Gilbert O’Sullivan – Out On Director: Leanne Poolley and Lynda Topp began their career world, including the prestigious His Own is a fascinating and witty portrait of an outspoken music New Zealand • 2009 • 84 mins busking, attracting crowds with their People’s Choice documentary award man who refuses to retire, absolutely certain of his own value, infectious performances. We explore at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. Friday 16th April, 17.00 ready to take on all detractors and critics, single-minded, self- The Topp Twins tells the story of two their lives through a compilation of Director Leanne Poolley has excelled Director: Adrian McCarthy aware and oddly engaging. of New Zealand’s most loved and interviews, performance footage, in creating an honest, intimate and Ireland • 2010 • 52 mins celebrated performers. A national home videos and newsreel archives incredibly entertaining fi lm about Extended Q&A with guests including Gilbert O’Sullivan institution in their homeland, and which looks at not only their lives two truly remarkable women. and director Adrian McCarthy. quite possibly the world’s only as performers but as committed

10 IFI Stranger Than Fiction 2010 www.ifi .ie 11 Broken Tail IFI Irish Film Archive – Outside Looking In Colin Stafford-Johnson spent almost 600 days fi lming the tiger Broken Tail and his family which resulted in some of the Nothing is more fascinating than discovering how others see us. The IFI Irish fi nest tiger documentaries ever made. Broken Tail was the most fl amboyant tiger cub he’d ever seen. Impossibly cute, he Film Archive programme strand this year draws together fi lms made by foreign gamboled and posed for Colin’s camera through the fi rst years of fi lmmakers about Ireland which attempted to encapsulate the essence of Ireland his life. But then, without warning, Broken Tail disappeared. He for audiences abroad. Unlike indigenous productions made to sell Ireland as a abandoned his sanctuary and went on the run, vanishing into the rural idyll to overseas audiences, these foreign fi lms are not always fl attering. The Indian wilderness for almost a year. He was barely three outsider’s perspective can provide a welcome objectivity but reality can be harsh. years old. In this spectacular quest across Rajasthan, Colin retraces Broken Tail’s last journey, gathering clues as to his route and his behaviour, asking why he abandoned the park and, above Saturday 17th April, 14.30 all, searching for the truth behind the future of the last wild tigers Archive Programme 1 FAMILY MATINEE in India. Director: Colin Stafford-Johnson Irland und Seine Kinder/ Ireland • 2010 • 75 mins Q&A with the fi lmmaker. Children of Eire Director: Klaus Simon • 1961 • 44 mins • Black & White

In 1961 Heinrich Böll, author of the highly popular Irisches A Prayer for the Wind Horse Tagebuch (Irish Journal) (1957), scripted and oversaw the production of this refl ective documentary which combines a The Wind Horse is a mythical Tibetan creature which combines compelling pictorial record of Irish life with a voiceover which is at the power of the wind and the strength of the horse to carry times harshly critical of Irish society in general and its treatment prayers from Earth to the gods. Every year, it is called upon by of its children in particular. Broadcast in Ireland in 1965 (following villagers living high on the Tibet-Nepal border to give them the Saturday 17th April, 12.00 its well received German transmission in 1961), the fi lm horrifi ed courage and stamina to undertake a journey through some of the many critics. Playwright John O’Donovan called for its withdrawal wildest terrain in the Himalayas – an odyssey that defi nes almost on the grounds that it would serve to “to exhibit us as the most every aspect of their earthly existence. In this extraordinarily hapless and hopeless race in the northern hemisphere”. beautiful fi lm, director John Murray follows one man, Kharma Tshering, as he guides his wife and children through one of the most hazardous human endeavours on the planet. They must Irland/Ireland escape their mountain home before the winter snows cut them Director: Margit Wagner • 1959 • Approx 30 mins • Black & White Sunday 18th April, 14.15 off without enough food to survive until spring. On foot and yak, Director: John Murray their journey is a race against time and weather. This fi lm, made for Bavarian TV with support from Gael Linn, Ireland • 2010 • 74 mins incorporates a tour around Dublin and the extraordinary journey Q&A with the fi lmmaker. of a young boy and his father along the canals of Ireland as they bring their new lobster boat home to Carna, Co Galway.

Horses Archive Programme 2

What might life look like from the perspective of a horse? That is The Irish or The Memory of a People the challenge this unusual and highly entertaining documentary Director: Robert Manthoulis • 1972 • 54 mins • Colour takes up. Director Liz Mermin tracked the experiences of three promising racehorses, Joncol, Ardalan and Cuan na Grai, over the Commissioned by French broadcaster ORTF 3 in 1971, The Irish or course of a year at trainer Paul Nolan’s Toberona stables in County The Memory of a People provides a record of Irish traditional music Wexford. While Nolan and his staff play an integral and important at the height of its popularity in Ireland and worldwide. A broad part in the fi lm, the focus is very much on the day-to-day lives sweep of the musical landscape, the fi lm draws in vibrant of the magnifi cent animals in their care. As Mermin’s camera performances from Willy Clancy, Mrs O’Tuama, Christy Moore and follows the horses, whether they are training, at rest or preparing Planxty, The Dubliners, Ceoltoiri Laighean and Tony MacMahon for a race, we experience each of their distinct personalities. amongst others. The fi lm provides a richly textured view of the Culled from hundreds of hours of footage, this beautiful fi lm does place of traditional music in Irish life – in homes, in pubs, in clubs Sunday 18th April, 18.00 an extraordinary job in providing audiences with a sense of what Sunday 18th April, 12.15 (such as the Piper’s Club in Dublin) and in university halls (where IRISH PREMIERE it means to be a top-end racehorse in Ireland. Christy Moore and Planxty perform for a lecture theatre full of Director: Liz Mermin bearded and beaded students in Belfi eld). Made shortly after the Ireland/UK • 2009 • 87 mins Q&A with director Liz Mermin. death of musician, Sean O Riada, the fi lm includes an interview with his widow Ruth and a rare interview with O Riada himself, unearthed by the director, Robert Manthoulis, in Norway.

12 IFI Stranger Than Fiction 2010 www.ifi .ie 13 SHORT FILM PROGRAMME

Interested in seeing the work of the a wide range of subject matters esteemed fi lm and documentary future generation of documentary – there’s truly something for experts will decide winners of the fi lmmakers? Then make sure to everyone! Best Irish and Best International catch the Short Film Programme. prizes, with voting for the Audience Featuring a selection of the fi nest Films are up to 15 minutes in Award taking place in the cinema short documentaries from across duration, and all are in competition, immediately after the screening. Ireland, interspersed with a selection with three prizes here for the taking: of international gems, every year Best Irish Short Documentary, Best Sunday 18th April, 12.15 this programme presents fi lms International Short Documentary Ireland • 2010 • c100 mins made with a variety of styles on and the Audience Award. A jury of

FESTIVAL Friday EVENTS 16th April Take a bow! IFI Stranger Than Fiction is teaming up with a number of partner organisations to present a day of lively, thought-provoking talks, panel discussions and interviews, each designed to provide you with an opportunity to The arts really matter to us in Ireland; they are a big part of people’s lives, engage with some of the festival’s fi lmmakers. We’ll have events to cater for everyone, from the mildly curious to would-be fi lmmakers. And to top it all off, they’re free! the country’s single most popular pursuit. Our artists interpret our past,

Events will include: define who we are today, and imagine our future. We can all take pride in the enormous reputation our artists have earned around the world. 11.00 The Honest Truth: 15.30 Debut Docs. Ethics in Documentary This year’s IFI Stranger Than Fiction boasts a large The arts play a vital role in our economy, and smart investment of How do documentary fi lmmakers deal with the confl icting number of fi lms from fi rst-time fi lmmakers – Strange taxpayers’ money in the arts is repaid many times over. The dividends responsibilities to their subjects, their viewers and their Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields, Pyjama own artistic visions? Filmbase hosts a discussion on the Girls, Downtown Calling, Last Train Home and Family come in the form of a high value, creative economy driven by a flexible, issues that many documentary fi lmmakers face while Affair to name just a few. This panel will feature a line-up educated, innovative work force, and in a cultural tourism industry trying to balance ethical responsibilities, creative narrative of debut directors and producers who will discuss the worth A5 billion a year. and practical considerations when making their fi lms. route they took to bring their stories to the screen.

The Arts Council is the Irish Government agency for funding and 12.30 The Making of… 17.00 A Lifetime on Film developing the arts. Arts Council funding from the taxpayer, through We’ll delve deep into the creation of one of the festival’s The fi lmmaking teams behind American: The Bill Hicks the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, for 2009 is A75 million, fi lms, with the fi lmmaking team on hand to demystify Story and Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy the production process, providing attendees with a rare Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar will join us to discuss that’s about A1 euro a week for every household. insight into what it takes to get a documentary made some of the many challenges and pitfalls associated with and, most importantly, have it seen by an audience. making a biographical documentary. So, at the end of a memorable film, don’t forget the role you played and take a bow yourself! 14.00 Feature Docs: Full details of all the festival events and participants are The Funding Process available at www.ifi .ie/stf. All events are free, but ticketed, and all will take place in IFI Cinema 3. Find out what’s on at Screen Producers Ireland will hold this event taking a detailed look at the funding process for feature documentaries. www.events.artscouncil.ie

Presented You can find out more about the arts here: in association with: www.artscouncil.ie

14 IFI Stranger Than Fiction 2010 6 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 www.ifi .ie Box Offi ce 01 679 3477 DESIGN VERSO.IE