A new Connemara film festival will celebrate the life and work of The Quiet Man and The Searchers director John Ford this September.
Féile John Ford will take place in the Gaeltacht village of An Spidéal from the 5 to 7 of September and will feature film screenings, talks, storytelling, and an exhibition taking place between Stiúideo Cuan and Scoil Éinne.
The six-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker, who also directed The Grapes of Wrath and John Wayne classic Stagecoach, was born John Martin O'Feeney in Portland, Maine to Galway parents.
Ford’s father hailed from Tuar Beag, half a mile west of An Spidéal , while his mother came from nearby Coill Rua.
Throughout his life, Ford maintained strong ties to Ireland, regularly visiting An Spidéal and later shooting his Oscar-winning 1952 classic The Quiet Man in Connemara.
His biographer Joseph McBride wrote: "Near the end of his life, Ford recalled that it was here in Spiddal, while visiting his family’s ancestral home as a boy, that he acquired his love of landscape and his eye for composition."
Féile John Ford will explore the creative thread that connects Ford’s legacy to the thriving film and TV industry along Cois Fharraige in the South Connemara Gaeltacht region today.
The new festival is organised by film producer Redmond Morris, filmmaker Pat Comer, Tony Tracy Head of the Huston School of Film & Digital Media, University of Galway and Steve O’Cúláin, Former CEO of Údarás na Gaeltachta with involvement from the local community.
Féile John Ford will include daily screenings in Scoil Éinne of The Quiet Man, The Rising of the Moon, The Shamrock Handicap (silent with live score, and The Searchers.
An exhibition taking place in Stiúideo Cuan will feature rare unseen photographs, heritage displays, and original artifacts from Ford’s Irish films.
Commenting on the announcement of the festival, Pat Comer, Festival Committee said, "By looking back at John Ford’s life and work, we aim to look forward, celebrating his legacy and inspiring new generations of storytellers here in Connemara and beyond."
