In its fourth year, the Toronto Irish Film Festival (TIRFF) continues to provide a wide range of shorts, documentaries and even some TV episodes over its three evening course, starting from tonight. Its cultural programming will be screened at the TIRFF Bell Lightbox.
The festival will open with Alex Fegan’s ‘The Irish Pub’ (read about the announcement here), screening at 7pm this evening. ‘The Irish Pub’ is a documentary on the traditional Irish institution and the people that run it. Fegan will be participating in a Q&A after the screening, followed by an opening party in Dora Keogh’s pub on Danforth Avenue.
TIRFF also includes a programme of Irish shorts with this year’s choices including ‘Fear of Flying’, ‘The End of the Counter’, ‘Two Wheels Good’, ‘The Tree’, ‘Breakfast Wine’ and ‘The Boys from County Hell’. All are having their Canadian premieres. Episodes from Chris O Dowd’s ‘Moone Boy’ will also be shown.
Features to be screened are TV documentary ‘When Ali Came to Ireland’, about the epic 1972 fight between Muhammad Ali and Alvin ‘Blue’ Lewis that took place in Croke Park, and ‘Made in Belfast’, a contemporary drama directed by Paul Kennedy in his directorial debut. Recession comedy ‘Life’s a Breeze’, directed by Lance Daly (‘Kisses’) and starring Pat Shortt (‘Garage’), will close the festival.
Saturday will see the programme of shorts screened at 5pm, followed by the screening of ‘When Ali Came to Ireland’ and ‘Made in Belfast’ at 7pm and 9pm respectively. On the Sunday, at 5pm, the festival premieres the first two episodes of the second season of ‘Moone Boy’, and at 7pm ‘Life’s a Breeze’ will wrap up the festival.
