Foyle Film Festival Marks 25 Year Milestone

The Foyle Film Festival celebrates 25 years with the launch of a high quality programme of feature films, workshops, competition screenings, outreach and special events.
Over the last 25 years the Foyle Film Festival has become renowned for attracting top industry professionals to the city. Past guests have included high profile names such as Brendan Gleeson, Julie Christie, Terry George, Neil Jordan, Wim Wenders, Kenneth Branagh, Roddy Doyle, Stephen Frears, Jimmy McGovern - to name but a few.
This year is no exception as the festival launches with the Irish Premiere of Ashes - the latest film from Director Mat Whitecross (The Road To Guantanamo, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll). The movie stars Ray Winstone (Nil By Mouth, Quadrophenia, Sexy Beast) and Jim Sturgess (One Day, Fifty Dead Men Walking). Ashes was executive-produced by Coldplay.
Director Mat Whitecross and the stars of the film Ray Winstone and Jim Sturgess will attend the Irish Premiere of Ashes to launch the festival on Wednesday 21 November at the Brunswick Moviebowl.
While renowned Writer/Director Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Fish Tank) will attend the festival to introduce her recent adaptation of the classic gothic tale Wuthering Heights.
New Irish Cinema is well represented with Jump, and some of the cast - including Martin McCann and Ciaran McMenamin - are scheduled to attend the screening. Filmed in and around Derry-Londonderry, the film has received rave reviews. Also screening is Good Vibrations, which charts the life of Terri Hooley, the DJ instrumental in bringing the punk movement to Belfast and for releasing The Undertones’ legendary single ‘Teenage Kicks’. The directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn will be in attendance. To coincide with this screening, The Undertones will also play a special gig in the Nerve Centre as part of this year’s Festival Club.
In 1999 the Foyle Film Festival celebrated a milestone phase as it became an Oscar® affiliated festival - one of only a handful of such events to enjoy this honour. While this year’s festival education programme also highlights milestone events in politics by taking a digital journey through the peace process, from its earliest days to the recent historic meeting and handshake between The Queen and Sinn Fein’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
The Foyle Film Festival is the flagship project of the Nerve Centre - Northern Ireland’s leading creative media arts centre spearheading a diverse range of arts events, cutting edge projects, training opportunities, state-of-the-art production facilities, and Creative Learning Centres in Derry~Londonderry and Belfast. The festival acknowledges the talent, expertise, and dedication, of the management and staff of the Nerve Centre as a driving force behind the development and enduring success of the Foyle Film Festival.
This year the Foyle Film Festival is delighted to announce a new partnership with the Brunswick Moviebowl.
Caoimhin McClafferty commented: "Firstly I would like to say that Brunswick Moviebowl is absolutely thrilled and delighted to be hosting the 25th Foyle Film Festival on this their 'Milestone' year. With this being our first year hosting this prestigious event it is indeed a ‘Milestone’ for Brunswick Moviebowl too and we will endeavour to maintain the very high standards set by the Foyle Film Festival over the last 24 years.
"Secondly, I would like to congratulate Bernie Mc Laughlin, Festival Director & Programmer, and all her team, on the fantastic programme of feature films, short films and documentaries, from around the world, being screened at this year’s Foyle Film Festival.
"Since the opening of our new, state-of-the art, 7 screen cinema back in August 2011, Brunswick Moviebowl has gone on to establish itself as one of the leading exhibitors in Northern Ireland. It seemed only fitting then, that Northern Ireland’s premier cinema be part of Northern Ireland’s premier film festival - and so the partnership was formed. It is a terrific honour and a privilege to be associated with the Foyle Film Festival and one we hope to build upon long into the future."
The 25th Foyle Film Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of its core funders Northern Ireland Screen and Derry City Council.
www.foylefilmfestival.org