Guth Gafa is extending its reach even further into rural communities this year with screenings beyond its two main venues in Malin and Headfort House.
A packed two-day programme of breathtaking films will be shown in the historic Colgan Hall in Carndonagh during the Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival, which is happening in Malin, Co Donegal this weekend while venues in Moville and Buncrana will also have special screenings.
The festival, which continues over the following weekend in Headfort House, just outside Kells, co Meath will open and close with screenings in Kells Theatre in the town.
As a taster of what’s to come, A Goat for a Vote, a humourous look at students elections in a Kenyan school, will be shown in Kells Theatre on Thursday night.
The festival will close on Sunday night with the screening of Blood Fruit, the award winning documentary which tells the powerful story of a group of young Dubliners who changed the face of the anti-apartheid movement around the world 30 years ago when they refused to handle South African goods in Dunnes Stores.
It is all part of Guth Gafa’s ongoing outreach programme which aims to bring the best documentary films to as wide an audience as possible
The Carndonagh screenings, which get underway at midday on Saturday with Dreams of a Clown, a beautiful profile of life on the road with an Irish circus, continue through to Sunday evening.
“Last year, Guth Gafa held some screenings in Derry. This year we wanted to widen our reach in the Inishowen area while staying as close to our base in Malin as possible.
“The Colgan Hall, just five kilometres away is a perfect location and the perfect size to screen what we believe will be some of the most popular films on our programme,” said festival director, David Rane.
Virunga the high octane real-life thriller about courageous park rangers in the Congo who risk their lives daily to protect the last remaining mountain gorillas will open this year’s Guth Gafa festival in Malin and will also be screened twice in Carndonagh over the two-day festival.
Other films not to be missed in Carn include, Happiness a film about a child monk in a remote village in Bhutan, A Dangerous Game, Anthony Baxter’s follow up to You’ve Been Trumped and The Stranger, Guth Gafa’s own Neasa Ni Chianain’s beautiful and poignant portrayal of enigmatic English artist, Neal MacGregor who lived as a hermit on Inishoboffin Island, off the Donegal coast.
As part of its outreach programme, another documentary on the Guth Gafa programme, Doc of the Dead , a film about the evolution of the zombie movie, will be screened at Ned’s Point Centre in Buncrana on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, secondary students at Moville Community College can enjoy a special screening for them in St Eugene’s Hall in Moville on Friday at 10.30am of A Goat for a Vote.
It’s all systems go in Malin this week as the town is transformed into a film village in preparation for the festival.
Over the weekend in Malin upwards on 20 documentaries will be screened at pop up cinemas in the Malin Hotel, the Old Courthouse and the School House.