San Francisco Downtown, March 2007

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SF Irish Film Festival showcases contemporary cinema

For most San Franciscans, celebrating St. Patrick's Day is a simple affair. The City is home to an inordinate array of Emerald Isle themed pubs spread out from the unlikely nightlife of Fisherman's Wharf to the decidedly Celtic caché of the  outer reaches of the Avenues. But sidling up to the bar to hoist another pint is not the only option. March is also an excellent time to pay homage to grandeur of Gaelic culture. Niall McKay, programming director of the San Francisco Irish Film Festival (March 1-4 at the Roxie Film Center, 16th & Valencia), is counting on some of the holiday spotlight to entice movie goers to tune in to contemporary Irish cinema. Now in its fourth year, the event has grown from its initial one day run to its current four-day incarnation. McKay has plans to broaden the festival's reach beyond the expected March scheduling by promoting Irish film screenings throughout the year.

In the meantime, "We are showing twenty films, about half are comedy," McKay explains, "The festival tries to represent Ireland as it is now. People tend to think of leprechauns and four leaf clovers and things like that. We are doing this whole Ireland in transition theme. The country has changed so much in the last decade." Aside from, and perhaps because of, the recent emergence of one of the most thriving economies in Europe, much of this transition centers around a political and socioeconomic issue that resonates very potently with most Americans, immigration. "Ireland is learning what it means to be multicultural. The last big influx of immigration we had [in Ireland] was a thousand years ago, the fecking Vikings," McKay chuckles. Upon reflection he adds, "Then there were the Jewish people that came over in the 1920's, [Think Harold Bloom] but that was on a relatively small scale."

One of the films that deals directly with the topic is Here to Stay, the timely story of a vivacious gay Filipino nurse who campaigns to update Irish labor and immigration laws. The selection should shatter the image of the country as some sort of mythical fairy-tale island; it is sure to challenge the very perceptions of what it means to be Irish.

People fear change; it's one paradigm that has been proven time and again. But, according to McKay, "Although there is a huge amount of change, and people are coming to grips with it, there is no backlash as yet. We're as racist as the next bunch," he hastens to add, "We can't say we're more fair than other people, but I suspect the warm welcome will last as long as the money [and the strong economy] is there."

The "Celtic Tiger," as the current economic boom is often called, has been a boon to filmmakers, with the Irish Film Board receiving nearly 20,000,00 Euros in funding per annum. While American blockbusters still dominate ticket sales, both the quality and quantity of native film productions are indubitably on the rise.

"Our film industry has become very vibrant," McKay confirms, "The Wind that Shakes the Barley won the Palm D'or. Man about Dog, which shows on Saturday night [March 3], was the most successful films in Ireland last year," a huge accomplishment given the budgets of American blockbuster competitors. Another popular pick is Goldfish Memory [March 4], a modern-day love story set against a Dublin Bossa Nova backdrop. For more information, the program and previews please visit www.sfirishfilm.com.

Another institution that seeks to bring attention to the rich cultural heritage of Ireland is www.SFLimerickToday.com, a local website that has recently launched. The mission of SFLimerickToday is to encourage and stimulate the connection between Limerick, Ireland and San Francisco, California. There are a number of San Francisco-based groups such as the Irish Literary and Historical Society, the Irish Cultural Center, and others, that have significant  connections to the history and literature of Limerick. The site's creators hope to engender networking and provide a forum to communicate between the two cities in the areas of social, political, cultural, artistic, theatrical, poetry, literary, entrepreneurial, business, academic and European Union-related issues. Pretty heady stuff for a holiday known best for overindulgence of a more intoxicating than intellectual nature.

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