The summer season kicks off with one of the greatest musicals of all time An American in Paris (1951) screening on Thursday 3^rd May. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, this extravaganza of song and dance will inspire the Kerry audience to embrace that summer feeling in the company of the inimitable Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron and some unforgettable Gershwin numbers.

Following this, on Thursday June 7^th, the Silver Screening programme is proud to present Brief Encounter. Adapted from his own stage play by Noel Coward and directed by David Lean this poignant and beautifully crafted love story tempts audiences to fall in love all over again with Alec (Trevor Howard) and Laura (Celia Johnson), a perfectly bitter-sweet way to spend an afternoon. The summer listing will conclude on Thursday July 5^th with a sizzling showing of The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).This dark tale of passion and intrigue, featuring Lana Turner, John Garfield and Cecil Kellaway, will be bound to captivate and enthrall audiences alike.

All films cost just €2 to anyone aged 65 or over although we welcome everyone to the screenings.  Kerry Film Festival serves teas, coffee and biscuits before the film to all attendees from 1.30pm in the foyer of Siamsa Tire. The Silver Screening initiative for the active retired provides a great social occasion for those attending as well as the opportunity to see classic movies on the big screen.

Finally Kerry Film Festival would like to remind all patrons that the screening day remains the first Thursday of each month and to thank you all for your continued patronage. A listing of the Autumn screenings will be available in due course.

Refreshments sponsored by O’Shea’s, Blennerville.

Laura Jesson accidentally meets Dr Alex Harvey at a railway station. As their acquaintance grows, so does their attraction to each other, despite both being married. On the brink of an affair and desperately in love, the two must make a choice that may part them forever.

Tickets are available from Siamsa Tire.

Tickets available from Siamsa Tire.

Following the success story which was KFF 2011, preparations for this autumn’s festival are already gaining momentum, and based on the impressive number of films entered last time round, the organisers are expecting yet another bumper year.

The main focus of the Kerry Film Festival is as ever on young filmmakers, with short film competitions geared towards showcasing their work and bringing it to a wider audience at home and throughout a growing network of partner festivals across the globe.

Filmmakers have the chance for their work to be seen by a prestigious panel of adjudicators which has in recent years included such leading lights as Cillian Murphy, director Paul Greengrass, Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson, and Gabriel Byrne. KFF also presents the Maureen O’Hara Award to a woman who has excelled in the art of film, with Fionnula Flanagan honoured in 2011, receiving her award from Maureen O’Hara herself at a glittering awards ceremony at Siamsa Tire, Tralee.

KFF 2012 will see the launch of the Kerry Film Festival Challenge, the latest innovation of Festival Director Sarah Smyth, which will see young filmmakers invited to shoot a short film over the course of the festival using the backdrop of the world’s most beautiful film location; the Kingdom of Kerry. Full details of the Kerry Film Festival Challenge will be released in early July.

The call for entries is being issued earlier than in previous years. “Last year saw over five-hundred films entered into the short film competitions with entries were coming in right up until the last moment and the FedEx van wearing a path to our door,” said festival co-ordinator Niall Burman-Roy. “So this year we’re allowing as much time as possible for filmmakers to get their submissions in.”

The closing date for entries is August 10th. Submissions can be made online at www.kerryfilmfestival.com where full details can be found.

The Kerry Film Festival would like to thank The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Kerry County Council/ Comhairle Contae Chiarraí, Tralee Town Council / Comhairle Baile Thra Li, Siamsa Tire & Lyric FM.
The Kerry Film Festival will take place from the 6th-13th October 2012.

Inspired by traditional Arabic ensembles, Charlie Barber’s new score is equally dramatic. Performed by musicians playing from two towers flanking each side of the giant silver screen, this is a riveting blend of music and spectacle unlike anything else.

“[Barber] uses a vast range of instruments … to create an evocative soundscape that mirrors the exotic costumes and Salomé’s erotic allure.” (The Guardian)

“An amazing experience. Before coming I was rather uncertain that I would get anything out of it, but I was bowled over.” (Patron, Chris Nicholls, Milton Keynes)

The Pier which was filmed in New York and in various locations in West Cork including Goleen, Ballydehob, Dunmanus, Schull, Skibbereen, Castletownsend, Castlehaven, Tragumna and Bantry stars Karl Johnson, Gerard Hurley and Lili Taylor. After twenty years of no contact with his son, Larry McCarthy (Karl Johnson) pretends to be dying in order to trick his son, Jack (Gerard Hurley) into returning home to West Cork. When Jack arrives he is furious to find that his father is alive and kicking and, if anything even more furious, when he’s tricked into staying.

The Pier is a delicately paced story that pits father and son against one another in a battle that is as old as humanity. While the viewer longs for reconciliation, director Gerard Hurley is a masterful storyteller and it’s never quite apparent whether the two protagonists will figuratively bury the hatchet or literally bury a hatchet in one another.

The dates of screening are

Sunday, January 29th, IFI Dublin

Tuesday, February 2nd, Classic Listowel, Kerry

Friday, February 3rd, 4th, 5th, Skibbereen Town Hall, Co Cork

Friday, February 3rd – Feb 9th, Eye Cinema, Galway

Saturday, February 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th Park Cinema, Clonakilty, Co Cork

Sunday, February 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Cinemax Bantry, Co Cork

Sunday, February 5th,6th,7th,8th Qand A on 5th, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork

Monday, February 6th, 7th, Macroom Briary Gap, Cork

Tuesday, February 7th, Phoenix Cinema, Dingle, Kerry

Thursday, February 9th, Carrick On Shannon Multiplex

Wednesday, February 15th, 18th, The Model Sligo

Tickets for The Pier are available by contacting the venues directly. For more information see www.thepierfilm.com

Starring Lawrence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe

Starring Robert Donat, Madeline Carroll and Peggy Ashcroft