Irish Female Filmmakers Work To Be Celebrated In Paris

The Women in Film & Television (WFTV) France is to host the first film festival of Irish women's work in the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris on September 29.
The day long festival, which will be opened by Irish Ambassador Ms Anne Anderson, will screen the Irish Film Board funded feature films Nora (to be introduced by director Pat Murphy), Hush-a by, baby (Margo Harkin), Disco Pigs (Kristen Sheridan) and Song for a Raggy Boy (Aisling Walsh). A collection of shorts, as well as the documentary Exile Files (to be introduced by its director Geraldine Creed) will also be screened.
Jenny Roche who directed the short Butterflies and Bees, is to give a masterclass ‘Irish Women in the Picture' which looks at how women see and are seen in Irish film and television. The festival will end with a reception in the evening.
The festival in Paris is to reciprocate the very successful film festival of French women's work that WFTV Ireland hosted in Dublin last year. The idea behind these festivals is to bring the European community of film makers together and to see each others work so as to encourage more co-productions.
WFTV Europe was launched in June 2004 as part of WFTV International which is a global network comprising of some 37 chapters worldwide and over 10,000 members dedicated to advancing professional development and achievement for women working in all areas of film, video and other screen based media.
(DS)