Following on its successful six year run in Gortahork, Co. Donegal and having establishing itself as an award-winning, cutting-edge documentary festival on the European festival circuit, the Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival this year returns to Donegal for its? 7th edition, which will take place in the picturesque village of Malin on the tip of the Inishowen Peninsula from May 16th-19th. In partnership with the City of Culture Derry-Londonderry, events will also take place in the city of Derry across the festival weekend.
Having taken a break in 2012 for funding reasons, the 2013 Guth Gafa Festival promises to be the biggest and best yet, with documentary films from around the world being screened in intimate venues around the village of Malin and in Derry-Londonderry, with the directors in attendance for post-screening discussions, along with masterclasses and seminars.
Attendance of all directors for their film screening is an important feature of Guth Gafa and allows the public the opportunity to interact with filmmakers in a more personal way than other major festivals.
In 2011, 30 directors of films attended Guth Gafa from 17 countries.
Special guests in 2011 included Colm O?Gorman, Director of Amnesty Ireland, his Excellency Mr Beat Loeliger, the Swiss Ambassador to Ireland, Cynthia Lopez, Executive Vice-president POV American Documentary, Patricia Finneran, Sundance Film Institute, Ryan Harrington, Head of Tribece Film Fund, Elizabeth Radshaw, Director of Hot Docs Forum Toronto, and Alan Maher from Bord Scannán na hÉireann, along with representatives of the festival?s other funders and partners (e.g.,TG4, Arts Council, etc).
Programming is currently underway for this year’s festival and is due to be finalised by the end of February. The international programme for Guth Gafa is 100% curated by the Festival directors and their programming team, but the Irish programme is an open submission, and the Festival programmers would welcome submissions of feature length Irish documentaries produced in the last 2 years.
The principal funders of the Guth Gafa International Documentary Festival 2013 are The Irish Film Board, The Arts Council, City of Culture 2013, Inishowen Development Partnership LEADER fund and Failte Ireland.
For more info, please contact David Rane, Festival Director on 086-8118112, david@guthgafa.com
