Lisa Mulcahy’s Lies We Tell will open Solas Nua’s Capital Irish Film Festival in Washington DC, and Patricia Kelly’s Verdigris has been announced as the closing film of the festival. The festival’s lineup includes documentary Crock of Gold, about the life of The Pogues’ lead singer Shane McGowan.
Solas Nua, Washington DC’s contemporary Irish arts organisation, has announced increased support from Screen Ireland for Solas Nua’s 18th annual Capital Irish Film Festival (CIFF) with the AFI Silver Theatre and Culture Center, February 29 - March 3 2024. The support will result in a curated program of shorts’ titles to be announced with the full CIFF festival lineup on February 1st.
CIFF 2024 will open with the East Coast premiere of Lisa Mulcahy’s Lies We Tell, fresh from its American Premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. The film is adapted by Elisabeth Gooch from the Sheridan Le Fanu novel, Uncle Silas. The cast includes the great granddaughter of Seán O’Casey, Agnes O’Casey (Bingham Ray New Talent Award Winner at the Galway Fleadh), David Wilmot (The Wonder), Holly Sturton (Smother) and Chris Walley (Young Offenders). The film is slated for Thursday, February 29th, 7:00 pm.
The festival’s closing film, a second East Coast premiere, is Patricia Kelly’s Verdigris, the debut feature depicts an unlikely friendship and the diverse social realities of two women from opposite ends of Dublin. Verdigris is slated for Sunday, March 3rd, 6:45 pm.
A gala will be held for pass-holders and opening night ticket holders after the opening film Lies We Tell on February 29th in the theatre lobby with director Lisa Mulcahy and more featured guests to be announced. An exclusive closing night toast will take place for all pass holders and closing night film ticket holders after the showing of Verdigris on March 3rd. Director Patricia Kelly and producer Paul Fitzsimons will be present as closing night featured guests.
In addition to the earlier announced titles, there is the East Coast premiere of Sarah Share’s The Graceless Age: The Ballad of John Murry, a look at musician and artist’s Murry's life as he leaves Ireland and retraces his steps back to his childhood home of Mississippi in this story about the redemptive power of music. There is the North American premiere of two-time IFTA Best Sports Documentary winner Andrew Gallimore’s One Night in Millstreet, a snapshot of pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland in 1995, told through a prize WBO World Super-Middleweight fight between then unknown Cabra underdog Steve ‘The Celtic Warrior’ Collins and champion Chris ‘Simply the Best’ Eubank.
Solas Nua also has also confirmed the addition of documentary Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane McGowan, director Julien Temple’s portrait of Shane MacGowan, lead singer of The Pogues. The documentary is slated for Thursday, February 29th, 9:35 pm.
CIFF is one of the largest programs of Irish cinema in North America, showcasing the latest Irish narrative and documentary features, shorts, art films, and animation releases by Irish and Ireland-based filmmakers. The 18th edition of the festival takes place February 29th - March 3,rd 2024 in partnership with the American Film Institute's Silver Theatre & Cultural Center (Silver Spring, MD).
The Capital Irish Film Festival is supported by the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme, Culture Ireland, Screen Ireland, the Embassy of Ireland, the Northern Ireland Bureau, and Northern Ireland Screen.
Capital Irish Film Festival passes are on sale now here with individual tickets on sale February 2nd, 2024.
