Aidan Gillen has launched the Dingle Distillery International Film Festival which runs this year in the Kerry town from November.
Kin and Game of Thrones star Gillen said that Daingean Uí Chúis has a "magic element" and he was excited that there would be an international flavour to the festival, with an array of talent due to arrive in the town from afar including Irish American director John Sayles.
"Without having to over emphasise the magic element of it, which a lot of people in Ireland and around the world know about, it does have this sense of otherness that I definitely plugged into when I was 13 and went to learn some Irish - more than I was learning at school - and it was the best summer I ever had really," he recalled.
Asked what he was most excited about ahead of the festival, he said: "I am excited that it’s coming back - that’s the number one thing - and I am excited that it’s under new directorship and that it’s going to be different, that’s the number two thing.
"And whatever they are going to programme I have no doubt is going to be very exciting. It gives me an excuse to go back to Daingean Uí Chúis. I am quite excited with the news that it is going to have an international flavour to it, as film festivals should have," he added.
In addition to a programme of Irish and international films, the festival aims to nurture the talent of tomorrow with seminars hosted by industry leaders, covering everything from direction, production, camera, sound and lighting to script writing, casting and costume design for up to 300 attendees.
Three exclusive full-day masterclass workshops will also take place over the festival weekend.
Daingean Uí Chúis will welcome Irish American independent filmmaker John Sayles (Lone Star, Men with Guns, The Secret of Roan Inish) and his creative partner and producer Maggie Renzi for a Masters workshop on film production and casting.
One of the best cinematographers in the business Owen McPolin (Vikings, Game of Thrones) will give a workshop for any aspiring director of photography on setting up scenes for shooting, focusing on lighting and specific camera techniques.
Having been at the heart of the Irish and international film industry for 35 years and credited with uncovering the talent of stars like Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan and Orlando Bloom, casting director Ros Hubbard will also host a one-day Masters workshop, offering advice to aspiring actors on how to cope with the demands of the film industry, how to stay motivated in the face of rejection and how to handle the practicalities of the career such as finding an agent.
The film festival will take place in various locations around Daingean Uí Chúis, a place rich in cinema tradition thanks to local institutions like the Phoenix Cinema and the breath-taking landscapes that attracted directors such as David Lean and Ron Howard as well as Disney’s Lucasfilm to the area.
The Díseart Centre and Beehive Studio will host screenings over the festival weekend, while a viewing treat awaits at the newly built Blasket Centre, as Dingle Distillery welcomes festival attendees to special screenings of Irish films.
