Welcome to the 20th Foyle Film Festival, in association with Stella Artois.  This year’s programme is well worth celebrating with an array of great films – contemporary, foreign language, and documentaries.  Music is a strong element in the festival programme this year with films including ‘Control’, ‘Joe Strummer:The Future Is Unwritten’, ‘Elvis:That’s The Way It Is’, ‘La Vie En Rose’, ‘Kurt Cobain About A Son’, all screening over the three main festival venues: the Omniplex Derry, the Orchard Cinema, and the Nerve Centre.  While the Opening Night Film is the Irish Premiere of ‘Talk To Me’ starring Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) – a hilarious movie based around a radio station, and boasting an outstanding music soundtrack.

Guest and Market Events include masterclasses on how to sell your script with writer-director and script consultant Charles Harris, and tips on how to get into films with Casting Director Jesse Malone.  BAFTA award winning Producer Andrew Eaton will participate in a question and answer session about his work (A Mighty Heart, The Road To Guantanam, Snow Cake, A Cock And Bull Story, 9 Songs, Code 45, Heartlands, 24 Hour Party People, With Or Without You – to name just a few).  While Julien Temple will introduce his latest documentary ‘Joe Strummer:The Future Is Unwritten’ on Sunday 25 November @ 7pm in the Orchard Cinema. The film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival this year.  Julien will also be in conversation with Martin Melarkey (Director of the Nerve Centre) about a career spanning over three decades (The Filth And The Fury, Pandaemonium, Glastonbury, The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, etc.) – after the screening of ‘Joe Strummer:The Future Is Unwritten’.

The education programme is extensive, catering for local schools, as well as outreach events at the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh, Omagh College, and the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny.

The much anticipated Stella Artois Film Awards - as always - will be hotly contested, and the winners will be announced on Saturday 1 December after the Closing Night Film ‘The Diving Bell And The Butterfly’. 

While the Festival Club highlights include ‘The Proclaimers’, ‘Duke Special’, and the annual Movie Quiz.

The 20th Foyle Film Festival, in association with Stella Artois, is truly one not to be missed.
 
Bernie McLaughlin
Festival Organiser