Rebecca Miller to pick up Maureen O' Hara Award

Robin Wright Penn, Rebecca Miller and Keanu Reeves

The Kerry Film Festival, which is celebrating ten years of bringing film to Kerry, today announced that Rebecca Miller is to receive an award at the Kerry Film Festival, which runs from October 31st to November 7th.

The award is named in honour of one of the most glamorous leading ladies of Hollywood's golden era, Maureen O' Hara.

"It's an honour to have Rebecca Miller pick up the Award." said Maureen O'Hara. "Rebecca is a wonderful director and it is magnificent to see such a strong character having success in film. One more example of the incredible talent present in today's Ireland. I am absolutely delighted that Rebecca will accept this award and I wish her the very best in her career, in film, and most importantly, in life with her husband and young family."

Rebecca Miller worked as a painter and an actress before becoming a writer and director. She is the author of the short story collection, Personal Velocity (2001), and the novel, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. For the film version of PERSONAL VELOCITY (2002), she won several awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. She has also written and directed the award-winning films ANGELA (1995), THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE (2005), which starred her husband Daniel Day Lewis, and again premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and this year's THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (2009).

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee was her first novel and has been published in 30 countries. The film version was released earlier this year, playing at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival, and had a cast that includes Robin Wright Penn, Keanu Reeves, Julianne Moore, Alan Arkin and Winona Ryder.

Rebecca Miller lives in Ireland and New York with her family.

While Maureen O' Hara was undoubtedly one of Hollywood's best loved actresses, she was much more than just a pretty face. When Maureen became an American citizen on January 25, 1946 she retained her Irish citizenship, which was the first time in history that the United States government recognized an Irish citizen as Irish and it led to a change in process for all Irish immigrants. Maureen was also the first female CEO of an American airline company. Whether in the movies, in politics or in business Maureen demonstrated a quality for leadership and a bravery that was extraordinary and Rebecca Miller displays many of the same characteristics.

Maureen currently lives in County Cork and to honour her Kerry Film Festival is screening the John Ford classic THE QUIET MAN.

The Maureen O' Hara Award acknowledges women that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their respective fields and Rebecca Miller is a most worthy recipient. The award giving will take place at the Kerry Film Festival Awards Ceremony at Fels Point Hotel in Tralee on Saturday, November 7th at 4:00 pm.

The Award Ceremony is the culmination of a week of films at Kerry Film Festival. The Awards ceremony will also feature the screening of award winning short films as adjudicated by Kerry Film Festival's panel of judges Jeremy Irons, Michael Fassbender, Simon Brown and James Christopher.

Jeremy Irons to Adjudicate at Kerry Film Festival

The Kerry Film Festival, which is celebrating ten years of bringing film to the people of Kerry, today announced the adjudicators for the 2009 Kerry Film Festival, which runs from October 31st to November 7th.

The adjudicators that will judge this year's Kerry Film Festival short film competitions are:
Jeremy Irons, Michael Fassbender, Simon Brown and James Christopher.

"The Kerry Film Festival is delighted to announce its line up of adjudicators," said Jason O' Mahony, Director, Kerry Film Festival. "From Jeremy Irons, an Oscar winning actor and one of the finest actors of all time; to Michael Fassbender, who set the film world alight with his unflinching portrayal of Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen's HUNGER, a role which, for my money at least, should have seen him win an Oscar; to James Christopher, one of the most respected film critics in the world and Chief Critic on The Times in the UK for many years; to Simon Brown, a fantastic Irish animator, who was lead animator on the recent Ice Age films and also worked with James Cameron on the upcoming AVATAR, every member of the adjudication panel is at the very forefront of their chosen profession and we're absolutely thrilled that they have decided to help adjudicate the 2009 Kerry Film Festival."

"This will be the tenth year of the Kerry Film Festival and both the quantity and quality of the films has risen year on year," continued O' Mahony. "And we felt it was important to have an adjudication panel of the very highest standing to adjudicate the short films. We're hugely grateful to all the adjudicators for giving so selflessly of their time and for agreeing to adjudicate at this year's Kerry Film Festival."

The adjudicators have the unenviable task of selecting the best films from this year's selection. Close to five hundred films were submitted to the 2009 Kerry Film Festival, up significantly on the total number of films submitted last year and more than double the number of films submitted in previous years.

For a brief Bio on the Adjudicators please see below:

Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons is one of today's most respected actors and has been honored for his work on stage, screen and television. He won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his chilling portrayal of Claus von Bulow in REVERSAL OF FORTUNE and won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance in ELIZABETH I.

From roles in THE MISSION and David Cronenberg's DEAD RINGERS to roles in David Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE, Ridley Scott's KINGDOM OF HEAVEN and THE MERCHANT OF VENICE with Al Pacino, Irons has displayed a talent and acting range that has seldom, if ever, been matched.

Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender exploded on the Film world with his unflinching portrayal of Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen's Cannes Film Festival Camera D'or winning HUNGER. He is one of the hottest young actors on the planet with acclaimed directors lining up to work with him. Last seen in Quentin Tarantino's INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, Michael, who grew up in Killarney, is a most welcome addition to the Kerry Film Festival Adjudication Panel.

Simon Brown
Simon Brown grew up in the countryside of Co. Clare, Ireland where he read books about the space-time continuum and practiced painting. It was an ideal background for his work as a visual effects artist which has led him around the world to London, California, New York and New Zealand. He's worked on many films including MATRIX REVOLUTIONS, STAR WARS - REVENGE OF THE SITH, ICE AGE - THE MELTDOWN and the upcoming AVATAR. Simon has just been accepted into the prestigious American Film Institute Conservatory for their directing program where he will further develop his craft.

James Christopher
James Christopher is a distinguished author and critic who has contributed to numerous newspapers. He was deputy theatre editor of Time Out Magazine, theatre critic for the Sunday Express, and for many years chief film critic of The Times. He has been the subject of several BBC documentaries. His book on Elizabeth Taylor: The Illustrated Biography is a much-loved staple. He lives in Essex but has spent many happy weeks in Kerry, notably Camp on the Dingle peninsula.