Manchester Irish Language Film Festival

This years event is now confirmed for Saturday 20th September 2008 from 10.00am to 1.00pm at Cornerhouse Manchester http://www.cornerhouse.org/ Further information and tickets direct from Cornerhouse (0161 200 1500).

We will be showing Tom Collins's film Kings which tells the story of immigrants looking for work in London

The Film was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.

Kings has been adapted from Jimmy Murphy's play The Kings Of The Kilburn High Road, which was a hit at the Tricycle Theatre six years ago.

Irish film-maker Tom Collins has turned it into a £2.5 million project starring Colm Meaney, best known for playing Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine.

In Kings, Meaney plays Joe, one of six men who come to London looking for work in the Seventies.

Thirty years later the men are reunited for the funeral of a friend who has died in tragic circumstances.

Collins, who grew up in Donegal, said the story of what happened to Irishmen who left home to seek their fortune in England was one he knew well from his youth.

He said: "Our aim was to make a ' foreign' film in England because I'm no longer sure England as we knew it exists.

"Our characters still talk in Irish in an attempt to accentuate their personal and national bond and their language is, to them, their last act of solidarity.

"This is an untold story of immigration and loneliness which continues today with migrants from Lithuania, Poland and China."

The director said it was an "amazing night" when he saw Kings Of The Kilburn High Road at the Tricycle, as what he saw on stage mirrored the lives of so many people in the audience.

"It's surprisingly universal," he said. "It's a little aspect of London life that is often forgotten; I hope people are interested."

Meaney said he was attracted to Kings because he was fascinated by the idea of a bilingual feature film - even though he was probably the least-proficient Gaelic speaker in the cast.

"It was a challenge for me but one that I was delighted to have a go at," he said.

"It's a great cast. They have done a wonderful job. You know there is great understanding there and I think it is, sort of, an affection for these characters that they have all brought to it."

As well as his TV work, Meaney has appeared in films including The Commitments and Con Air. He is currently on Broadway in The Old Vic's transfer of A Moon For The Misbegotten.

Although some scenes in Kings were filmed in Connemara, Galway, most of the movie was shot either in Kilburn or a pub in Acton.

In 2007 we were very pleased to show Bob Quinn's 1997 Poitín (65 minutes) directed by Bob Quinn, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poitín , and Daniel O'Hara's 2003 short (14 minutes), Yu Ming is ainm dom/Yu Ming is my name, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Ming_Is_Ainm_Dom.

Unfortunately Bob Quinn was not able to attend but we were able to welcome as our keynote speaker scholar, writer and teacher of Irish, Dr Eithne Ní Ghallchobhair from Ardara, County Donegal. We are pleased to announce that Eithne will be returning this year as our keynote speaker. Eithne's biography is quite impressive. She completed a PhD in NUI, Galway, where she edited an Early-Modern Irish translation of Guy de Chauliac's Chirurgia Magna from Latin. She currently works with the Royal Irish Academy editing the Foclóir Nua-Ghaeilge (Dictionary of Modern Irish).

She is based in Donegal where she is undertaking linguistic fieldwork. Recently she has been appointed a member of the Placenames Commission. She has written two children's books including Dhá Chluas Capaill ar Labhraí Loingseach published by Cló Mhaigh Eo http://www.leabhar.com/ and frequently writes for the on-line magazine http://www.beo.ie/ .

Saturday 20 September CLUB CUIDEACHTA from 8.00 p.m. The Briton's Protection, Great Bridgewater St.

Conversation in Irish and English to the backdrop of live traditional music. To reserve a free ticket contact Pat McGuinness 0161 225 0645.

Tuesday 23 September, AN IRISH SHORT

9.00 p.m. St.Kentigern's Social Club, Wilraham Road, Fallowfield

The short film Clare sa Spéir will be shown in DVD format and discussed.

Wednesday 24 September, ANOTHER IRISH SHORT 9.00 p.m. Irish World Heritage Centre, Queens Road, Cheetham Hill

The short film Lipservice will be shown in DVD format and discussed.

Friday 26 September COMHRÁ from 8.00 p.m. The Lass O'Gowrie, Charles St., off Oxford Rd.

An opportunity for conversation in Irish.

Further details at www.milg.org.uk

Pat McGuinness on 0161 225 0645

Eamonn Coleman on 01706 365282.