BIFF Productions will present the Irish Premiere of feature doc ‘Blazing the Trail: The O’Kalems in Ireland’ documentary at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh.
Written and directed by Peter Flynn and produced by Tony Tracy (Huston School of Film, NUI Galway), ‘Blazing the Trail’ follows Sidney Olcott and Gene Gauntier of the New York based Kalem Film Company who made close to 30 films in Ireland in the early 1910s.
‘Blazing the Trail’ tells the story of the Kalem filmmakers adventures in Ireland recounting how their films were made using locals as actors, without electricity and how they provoked the condemnation of a local priest. The O’Kalems produced a series of films in Kerry and Killarney including ‘The Lad from Old Ireland’ which is the first fiction film to be made in Ireland. This will be the Irish premier of the documentary. “Blazing the Trail is an affectionate homage to the O’Kalems,” says director Peter Flynn, “as well the people and culture they captured so beautifully on film.” The film features never before seen footage and a selection of music evocative of the 1910s.
The film has been well received critically with Jordan Young of the L.A. examiner describing it as “A first-rate documentary . . . making inventive use of surviving footage and other visuals,” and lead Curator of Moving Image in the British Library Luke McKernan calling it a “a delightful piece of work, filled with the same romantic spirit that informed Kalem Films in the first place.”
The Irish premiere of ‘Blazing the Trail’ will take place on Wednesday July 6th at 3pm in the Town Hall Theatre. The O’Kalem Collection, a double DVD set featuring the documentary and the remastered original Kalem films is being published by the IFI and BIFF Productions. It will be launched at a reception following the Irish premier screening at the Galway Film Fleadh. For further information visit Blazing The Trail.
