Guth Gafa International Documentary Festival has announced that it will be hosting its first-ever virtual Guth Gafa event – Doc Day Afternoon.
Seven films from Ireland, China, Ukraine, France, Lithuania, Germany, and the USA will screen from 2 pm until midnight with live-streamed Q&As and panel discussions. Those interested can register for Guth Gafa’s Doc Day online by filling in our registration form here shorturl.at/bJQTZ
From the United States, Guth Gafa brings you Truth or Consequences, a complex narrative about space travel and nature, set in the desert of New Mexico. This film is a stark warning to us, we who consume, that time is running out.
Closer to home, Tribe of Gods, the story of Tory island off Donegal, as told by its monarch Patsy Dan Rodgers, is delivered partly in traditional music form sketching the history of island life. Blessed and cursed by its separation from the mainland, the island has inspired pirates and politicians over the years to claim her as their own.
The programme also includes Chinese film Mirror, Mirror on The Wall, which takes a long incredulous look at plastic surgery, courtesy of Dr. Han, the prince of reconstructive surgery in China. 6000 Miles away in South Africa the shenanigans of greedy public officials accused of having their hands in the till play out in Shameela Seedat’s hard-hitting Whispering Truth To Power.
Then to Eastern Europe for the award-winning, The Earth is Blue as An Orange, a surreal film about the war in Ukraine, featuring twin narratives in a film within a film. Finally, there is Feels Good Man, about Pepe the frog and a cast of thousands who explain how the memosphere works.
Guth Gafa promises an exciting line-up, and alongside the films, it has a series of live-streamed and pre-recorded events, including a panel discussion with filmmakers ‘duos’ - couples who make films together and cover multiple roles (directing, editing, producing, camera and sound,) whilst also managing their personal lives together.
Guth Gafa’s Doc Duos Session runs on Sunday afternoon, and the films include the above-mentioned Whispering Truth to Power (director, Shameela Seedat and producer/ cinematographer/editor, Francois Verster), Tribe of Gods (writer/editor, Mirjam Strugalla and director/cinematographer/producer, Loic Jourdain) and local Meath film, School Life with Guth Gafa festival co-directors, Neasa Ní Chianáin (co-director/cinematographer) and David Rane (co-director/sound/producer).
School Life is a film about families large and small: the charming story of a couple; two teachers whose lives have for over forty years revolved around the kids of Headfort School. Quirky and iconoclastic, the two are determined to teach the kids real lessons – of joy, hope, and compassion.
The festival is supported by The Arts Council of Ireland, Meath County Council Arts Office, Creative Ireland, and the BAI.
Click here for more information about the Guth Gafa.
