Galway to welcome Hollywood stars for 20th film fleadh

OSCAR-WINNING actor Jessica Lange, American actor Bill Pullman and Irish actor Peter O'Toole are anticipated at this year's Galway…

OSCAR-WINNING actor Jessica Lange, American actor Bill Pullman and Irish actor Peter O'Toole are anticipated at this year's Galway Film Fleadh which opens on July 8th.

The theme of the 20th annual festival is music and film, and some 70 feature films, 25 documentaries and 100 shorts will be screened over six days.

The opening screening is Fugitive Pieces, set in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Director Alex Gibney won a 2008 Oscar for best international documentary with Taxi to the Dark Side. Also listed for the fleadh, it examines US torture practices in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo Bay. Mr Gibney will take part in a public discussion after the screening.

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Jessica Lange will attend a screening of Bonneville, in which she stars, on July 13th. Bill Pullman will attend the screening of his thriller, Surveillance.

Irish feature films include Anton, described as a gripping thriller set in Northern Ireland in the 1970s; Alarm, another thriller, directed by Gerry Stembridge; and Vox Humana, a music-based story of a homeless man and a choir - the 70-strong Galway Baroque Singers - directed by Bob Quinn.

Irish documentaries include Seaview, about how Mosney, a former Butlins summer camp, has become a holding centre for asylum seekers, and Gabriel Byrne- Stories from Homeon "the life and creative impulse of one of the world's leading actors".

Eight-time Oscar nominee and Honorary Academy Award-winning actor Peter O'Toole is the subject of a special tribute, with the fleadh is screening a number of his films, including Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, Rogue Maleand Goodbye Mr Chips.

Mr O'Toole will take part in a public interview.

Lorna Siggins

Lorna Siggins

Lorna Siggins is the former western and marine correspondent of The Irish Times