Film Fest: Friday 28, Film Showcase Special, 8pm - 11pm. Adm. €10

Professor Luke Gibbons introduces two major Irish films on the themes of emigration/immigration. This session is followed by a discussion on the films.

Hard Road To Klondyke
Dir Desmond Bell, Northern Ireland, 55 mins, 1999

Based on his autobiography, originally written in Irish, this is the story of Mici MacGowan. From his birth in Donegal in 1865 this TV documentary traces MacGowan’s life as a migrant worker and exile in America. Narrated by Stephen Rea, the story is centered round his excruciating journey in the worst of weather and dangerous company to Klondyke in Canada to strike gold.

Black Day at Black Rock
Dir Gerry Stembridge, Ireland, 57 mins, 2001
Don Wycherly, Julie Hale, Tom Hickey, Pauline McLynn, Jasmine Russell, Anna Manahan

The inhabitants of Black Rock learn that the government intends to place thirty asylum seekers into their village. Starring Cavan’s Tom Hickey as the vagabond ‘Billy’ alongside Pauline McLynn and Don Wycherley, this is a hilarious yet serious exploration of immigration, racism and activism in rural Ireland.