International documentary film festival for kells
HOW young people interpret democracy is the subject of a film which will be screened in Kells next week as part of the Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival.
The festival, which is taking place at Headfort House on November 1st and 2nd will be kick-started at Kells Theatre on Thursday October 30th with ‘A Goat For a Vote’ at 8pm.
This charming and sometimes hilarious film shines a light on student elections in a secondary school in Kenya where three teenagers are campaigning for the prestigious position of school president.
Members of the public are invited to attend the screening (suitable for teenagers), the proceeds of which will go to Kells Theatre.
According to Festival co-director, Neasa Ní Chianáin the film will offer a taste of what is to come over the Halloween weekend.
“Our mission is to bring great documentaries to rural parts of Ireland. A Goat for a Vote has won numerous critical and audience awards and like many of our films, it puts a human face a global issue.
“In this case we see how desperate these teenagers are to win this contest so they can advance their career ambitions and support their families,” she explained.
Over 30 films from 15 countries around the world will have their European or Irish premiere at the Guth Gafa festival, which will get underway in pop up cinemas in and around Headfort House on November 1st.
Most of the filmmakers will be in attendance over the weekend to answer questions and discuss their work with audiences.
A major theme of the festival is food and the politics and ethics behind how it is produced and delivered to our tables.
Five films, looking at such issues as the plight of tomato pickers in Florida, all the elements which go into the making of a can of ravioli and the centuries old relationship between man and cow will be screened over the course of weekend.
Following the films, local producers, growers and chefs will take part in a public debate, chaired by renowned cheesemonger, Kevin Sheridan on how the global issues of food production impact on our local community.
The opening film of the festival is the Irish premiere of the just released Virunga, a high octane thriller about the wildlife rangers who risk their lives daily to protect the last remaining mountain gorillas.
Also on opening Halloween night, Guth Gafa will screen Doc of the Dead, a documentary which takes a tongue in cheek look at the history of Zombie movies.
The festival will include the Irish premiere of the film La Violencia, an Irish made documentary about the courageous Mayan women of Guatemala who were subjected to horrific abuse during decades of armed conflict and are now campaigning for justice.
Guth Gafa will close on Sunday evening in Kells Theatre with the screening of Irish documentary, Blood Fruit, which recalls the courageous stance against apartheid in South Africa taken by young workers in Dunnes Stores who refused to handle South African fruit 30 years ago.