Projecting Regional Success At Film Festival

Stars of the big screen, Sir Ben Kingsley and Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint as well as Ulster actor James Nesbitt are among those set to attend a major regional festival next month.
The Belfast Film Festival Director Michele Devlin said: "As the festival grows each year, we are so proud of the fact that as well as a strong selection of international and European films, we are able to showcase a burgeoning wealth of Northern Ireland film-making and acting talent."
Running from March 26 to April 4, the festival is not only national in content but also includes several locally produced movies: "We have the premieres of the locally-made 'Cherrybomb' and 'Ditching' and we are also proud to be screening 'Pumpgirl' starring, Samantha Healey and Geraldine Hughes.
"We are also celebrating Ulster legends such as Davy Hammond, Brian Desmond Hurst and John T Davis as part of the 2009 festival," she said.
Among the stand-out attractions in a programme of 130 films are the premieres of '50 Dead Men Walking', the big-screen adaptation of the true-life tale of an IRA informer and 'Little Ashes', which tells the story of a young Salvador Dali.
But in terms of an atmospheric setting, it will be hard to beat one special screening of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' - in the city's St Anne's Cathedral - also featuring a live score.
A showing of two aquatic-themed movies on a river tourist boat will also add a touch of innovation as well as a strand of the festival which looks at post-conflict resolution through film.
Appropriately too, as the TV cartoon hit show 'The Simpsons', is 'coming to Ireland' with a specially written new episode being broadcast on St Patrick's Day, the notable comic festival event is an evening of adult films dubbed badly into Ulster Scots - or 'Shockin'ly Spaiked O'er Smot', as the event is called.
There will also be a short series of Ealing comedies, giving a rare cinematic outing for some gems of British movies including 'Kind Hearts and Coronets', the 'Man in the White Suit' and 'The Ladykillers'.
(BMcC/JM)