VIEWfinders Film Festival is dedicated to the exhibition and appreciation of films on the Visual Arts. Showcasing some of the best documentary feature films on Visual Arts subjects, the 3-day programme contains a combination of archive films and new releases from Ireland and further afield.
Based in the beautiful setting of Burren College of Art and Newtown Castle in Ballyvaughan, County Clare, the festival takes place from 30th March – 1st April, opening with Gerhard Richter Painting directed by Corinna Belz, who will be present to introduce the film. The weekend continues with a Spotlight on Irish Director Sé Merry Doyle; films that have been funded and commissioned in Ireland (Pat Collins’ Tim Robinson: Connemara and Rory Kirby’s Joe Lios Thuathail); features on the American artists Roberto Matta, Dorothea Lange and Maynard Dixon; and a programme of rarely seen films and footage from the Irish Film Institute Archives.
This mixture of previously unseen and rarely seen films combines with recently made ‘5 star’ films to make a programme for all interests; the unmissable Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow, a cinematic exploration of the gesamtkunstwerk of Anselm Kiefer at his home in Barjac, Southern France; Werner Herzog’s captivating Cave of Forgotten Dreams, which will screen at the Aillwee Cave Visitor’s Centre; and the sumptuously rendered Nightwatching by Peter Greenaway, a narrative feature based on the intrigue of Rembrandt’s group militia portrait The Night Watch starring Martin Freeman.
Alongside the features there will also be a Short Film Programme on the artists Robert Smithson, Bill Viola, Vija Celmans, Julie Merriman and Maria Simmons Gooding, as well as Directors Q & A sessions giving the audience a great opportunity to discuss the films with the helmsman and women involved.
To close, the festival is delighted to present How to Sell a Banksy, which takes us on an art world roller coaster ride encountering critics, collectors and authentication boards in the filmmakers quest for the elusive meal ticket, which gate-crashes the nebulous and protective world of Banksy. Raising questions of ownership, authentication and the true value of art itself, through all the chaos and incompetence comes a modern-day, true-story, crime-theft, comedy-caper.
So by all accounts VIEWfinders Film Festival is certainly a ‘must do’ if you enjoy good films, are passionate about art and fancy a trip to The Burren, if you’re nodding in agreement then what’s your excuse?
See the full festival programme at www.viewfindersfilmfestival.
