Winter Screenings at Kerry Film Festival

Though the summer has been a bit of a wash out, winter is looking decidedly brighter as Kerry Film Festival, in association with Siamsa Tire, have announced a tantalising line-up of films for their Winter season of active retired screenings. The screenings will take place in Siamsa Tire in Tralee, on the first Thursday of every month, and are for active-retired groups and all retired individuals.

"We've been delighted with the turn out for the spring and summer seasons of screenings for the active retired," said Jason O' Mahony, Kerry Film Festival Director, "and we thought it would be a wonderful idea to do some additional screenings through out the Winter. Thankfully Siamsa Tire agreed and we're delighted to be able to screen classic films in such a wonderful venue!"

First out of the gates is the multi Oscar winning FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) starring Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift. It also stars Frank Sinatra in possibly the best role of his career. Sinatra went on to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The film will screen in Siamsa Tire at 2:00 pm on Thursday, September 3^rd, the first Thursday in September, and it's not to be missed!

Next up, on Thursday, October 1^st, is Audrey Hepburn in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961). It tells the tale of struggling writer Paul Varjak who moves into a New York apartment building and becomes intrigued by his pretty, quirky neighbor Holly Golightly. Holly's lifestyle confuses and fascinates Paul; in public she flits through parties with a sexy, sophisticated air, but when they're alone she changes into a sweetly vulnerable bundle of neuroses. Audrey Hepburn plays that daring, darling Holly Golightly and is an absolute delight in the adaptation of Truman Capote's classic novel.

Then on Thursday, November 5^th, Peter O' Toole will light up the screen in the title role in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962). David Lean's film is a brilliant and truly epic rumination on a flamboyant and controversial British military figure and his conflicted loyalties during wartime service. It won 7 Oscars and immortality for its charismatic Irish star. Because of the length of the film, the screening will start at 12 noon as opposed to 2:00 pm.

The final screening of 2009 will take place on Thursday, December 3^rd, and is an all time Christmas classic. WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954) stars Bing Crosby. It's a romantic mix-up and features one of the best known and most loved songs of all time and will definitely get people in the Christmas mood.

"Our 2009 active retired screenings have been a monumental success so far and the audience begged us to keep going for the rest of the year," said Jason. "And we're delighted to oblige. If truth be told I love the screenings because it gives me a chance to see some of my favourite films on the big screen! And with a cost of just 2 euro per head that includes teas or coffees and biscuits for everyone attending we really think it's a recession busting deal!"

The films will all start at 2:00 pm sharp, with the exception of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA which begins at 12 noon because of the length of the film, and groups are encouraged to arrive half an hour before screening time to enjoy the social atmosphere, have a chat and grab a cup of tea or coffee. Interested parties are asked to contact the Kerry Film Festival on 066 712 9934 and all active retired groups and individuals are welcome at the Kerry Film Festival Active Retired Winter Season where they will enjoy their Golden Years with classic films on the Silver Screen!

All films screen at 2:00 pm, except LAWRENCE which screens at 12 noon, in Siamsa Tire in Tralee and all take place on the first Thursday of the month. For more information please call Kerry Film Festival on 066 712 9934.

For more information on the Kerry Film Festival please log onto www.kerryfilmfestival.com

For more information on Samhlaiocht please log on to www.samhlaiocht.com

Samhlaiocht is supported through grant aid from The Arts Council, Kerry County Council, Failte Ireland and by the generous corporate sponsorship of Kerry Group.

Celebrate Heritage Week with new Exhibition

Next week sees the launch of Ireland's Heritage Week, which runs from the 22nd to the 30th of August, and to celebrate Samhlaiocht, the leading Arts Organisation in Kerry, is holding a special week-long exhibition featuring work from Christa Vonhof and Donal Stack.

Heritage week is designed to appeal to almost everyone and the main aim is to build awareness of Ireland's built, natural and cultural heritage thereby encouraging its conservation and preservation. In Ireland Heritage Week is co-ordinated by the Heritage Council with support from the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Fáilte Ireland.

"Every year hundreds of national and local community organisations take part in Heritage week, organising events throughout the country to help build awareness of Ireland's beautiful and unique cultural heritage," said Trish Thompson, Samhlaiocht Gallery Coordinator. "We're delighted to play a small part and would encourage people to come and see this wonderful exhibition which features work from Christa Vonhof and Donal Stack. The exhibition pays respect to Ireland’s amazing cultural heritage through Christa Vonhof's wonderfully eclectic letter boxes and Donal Stack's pictorial maps."

Donal Stack is an artist that lives and works in North Kerry. After graduating from the Crawford Municipal College of Art, Donal went on to teach art at secondary level and at adult night classes for a period of five years.

"I've always had an interest in illustration and decided to pursue if for this exhibition," said Donal. "The work is a series of limited edition giclee prints of illustrated pictorial maps."

The maps are simply stunning and the level of work involved in creating them is mind-boggling. As Donal explains, "These maps are influenced by 16th and 17th Century pictorial maps showing the topography of the landscape and include text, icons and depictions of towns and other landmarks."

All the maps are pictorial maps of Kerry and the Giclee process which Donal used ensures a high quality reproduction on fine art acid-free paper. The original work was done in watercolour and each print is signed and numbered by the artist.

While Donal's maps are inspired by Kerry, Christa Vonhof, who grew up in Bavaria, has been similarily inspired by the county. She always loved painting and drawing.

"Art classes were always my favourite in school," says Christa, "and I continued to paint through my early adulthood." After raising her family and moving to Ireland, Christa became a member of an art group in which she is still active and exhibits regularly.

In addition to painting, Christa is interested in local history and archaeology and quite often combines these two interests.

"One day I was walking in the countryside and I saw this quaint box hanging off a telegraph pole. It was in the middle of nowhere and it sparked an interest," explains Christa. "Every now and then I would come across another post box and the most amazing array of different letter boxes appeared with different shapes, sizes and patterns and I decided to capture and record them."

"The work on the exhibit is by no means a complete collection," laughs Christa, "I fully expect to find many more to record. My hope is to continue finding and recording them in my drawings for years to come!"

The exhibition in Samhlaiocht is a perfect opportunity to see something a little different.

The exhibition opens on Thursday, August 20th and runs for one week until Friday, August 28th in the New Samhlaiocht Gallery which is located in the Old Presbytery on Lower Castle Street in the heart of Tralee. The Gallery is open from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, is free to visit and all are welcome.

Samhlaiocht is supported through grant aid from The Arts Council, Kerry County Council, Failte Ireland and by the generous corporate sponsorship of Kerry Group.

Call for Entries for Samhlaiocht Photo Exhibition

Lucie Harwood's winning photograph, Sunset, from Samhlaiocht's 2007 competition

Samhlaiocht is issuing a call for photographs for the second round of its Open Submission Photography Exhibition competition.

"The first heat, which had a theme of 'Winter Light', has been a huge success," said Mike Foley, Samhlaiocht, Photography Co-ordinator. "The number of submissions has been simply astounding and the quality of the work was fantastic. It's great to see photographers producing such outstanding work, much of it inspired by the beautiful county of Kerry."

The theme for the second round is 'Summer Light' and the closing date is Friday, August 28th.

"The judging panel includes Kerry Kennelly of Kerry's Eye, Dan Muphy, who is a fine art and portrait photographer with Red Couch Studios, Michael Diggin of Irish Landscape Photography and Michael O' Meara of Custom Framing Services. All the judges agreed that the standard of the photographs received for the first round was beyond all expectations," added Mike.

When quizzed about the entries for the first heat, Mike said, "The sheer number of entries was only seconded by the overall technical quality of the pics. And we're expecting a flood of entries for the second phase of the competition by the August 28th deadline because of the huge numbers of photos that are taken in the summertime."

"The photographers are asked to bear the theme in mind when submitting their work," added Mike, "but we encourage a liberal interpretation and we're looking forward to receiving a wide diversity of styles and subject matter."

When asked about digital manipulation, Mike had this to say, "With digital cameras in everyone's arsenal and this year's broad theme, we can't rule out digital manipulation, nor would we want to. Digital photography is an exciting medium and we encourage people to play around and to be as creative and artistic as they like!"

Photographs may be black and white or colour and must measure 6" X 8". Contestants must submit a hard copy of the picture to Mike Foley at Samhlaiocht, The Old Presbytery, Lower Castle Street, Tralee. For those submitting photographs taken with a digital camera please also email a copy to mike@samhlaiocht.com citing 'Samhlaiocht Photography Competition' in the subject line.

All winning entries will be professionally mounted and framed and will remain the property of the artist after the exhibition. The Framing Prize is kindly sponsored by O' Meara Fast Framing Service in Tralee Shopping Centre. Selected photographs will be displayed in the Samhlaiocht gallery in the Old Presbytery on Lower Castle Street in the heart of Tralee as part of Samhlaiocht's ongoing search for emerging talent.

The exhibition will take place from the October 1st until October 23rd, 2009.

Please include your name, address, a contact phone number, email and the title of each photograph submitted with both hard and soft copies of the photographs.

The closing date for entries to the second heat is Friday, August 28^th.

For more information on Samhlaiocht please log on to www.samhlaiocht.com or call 066 712 9934

Samhlaiocht is supported through grant aid from The Arts Council, Kerry County Council, Failte Ireland and Culture Ireland and by the generous corporate sponsorship of Kerry Group