KERRY International Film Festival (KIFF) officially launched their 2024 film festival programme today.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the festival returns to Killarney from October 17th-20th with a packed programme of features, documentaries, shorts and events. Tickets are on sale now from www.kerryfilmfestival.com.
Programme highlights include the festival’s opening film ‘Housewife of the Year’, Ciaran Cassidy’s poignant and heartwarming documentary that revisits the winners of the now-surreal televised contest, in an ode to a generation of Irish women and the challenges they faced in the home.
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Housewife of the Year, screening on Thursday, October 17th, will be preceded by the premiere of Dónal Dineen’s ‘Dance to Remember’.
Before the films, KIFF’s opening night will kick off with a presentation of its annual Maureen O’Hara Award to producer Rebecca O’Flanagan.
Co-steering Treasure Entertainment, one of Ireland’s leading independent production companies, she has produced a wide array of award-winning films and television – including Smother, The Running Mate, My Brothers, Handsome Devil, and Flora and Son, to name but a few. Her latest release, Kathleen is Here, arrives in cinemas this October.
Screening as a Festival Anniversary Gala on Friday, October 18th, KIFF is excited to announce a special presentation of Small Things Like These, Cillian Murphy’s highly anticipated follow-up film after his recent Oscar win.
Irish feature film highlights include Blurred Lines, directed by Mark Agar and written and starring Kerry native Siobhán Aislinn. The film was shot in Cloghane, Kerry and follows a group of friends on a New Year’s Eve gone wrong.
More highlights across the weekend include the Irish premiere of New Zealand coming-of-age film We Were Dangerous; the Irish premiere of mystical Indian drama In the Name of Fire; the Irish premiere of Damage and the Irish premiere of Aida Returns.
The heart of KIFF lies in its short film programme, and throughout the weekend, nearly 200 Irish and International shorts will be screened across three venues, totalling 25 Short Film Programmes.
Celebrating 25 years has provided ample opportunity for the festival to look inwards and continue to champion Kerry as a county teeming with ample inspiration and talent.
Attendees are invited to look to the past with IFI Local Films for Local People – Kerry Kaleidoscope, the Irish Film Institute’s travelling programme, curated by IFI Head of Irish Film Programming Sunniva O’Flynn, which brings films from the IFI Irish Film Archives back to the communities from which they originated. Kerry Kaleidoscope includes a Kerry travelogue from 1934; footage of then-inhabited Blaskets in the 1930s; the closure of Kenmare Train Line in 1960; and holidays in Ballybunion in 1963.
For younger audiences, KIFF is delighted to present an expanded Family Programme.
Alongside screenings, there will also be a selection of events held in ANAM Arts & Cultural Centre, Killarney. For all details see www.kerryfilmfestival.com