Author
November 25th, 2019
Vancouver is about to become a lot greener for a couple days later this week with the return of the Vancouver Irish Film Festival (VIRFF). The festival will return to the Vancity Theater for three days from November 29 to December 01, 2019 and promises to build on the success of the inaugural event from last year.
This year’s festival will once again seek to delight Vancouver audiences with an exciting and diverse line-up of Irish feature films and documentaries that shine a light on the rich tapestry that makes up modern Irish life. Moreover, this year’s festival will feature Ireland’s official entry for Best International Film at the 2020 Academy Awards.
This year’s festival will focus on wide range of Irish films including Rosie (which this author can vouch for as a must-see movie), A Bump Along the Way (recent winner of the Best Debut Irish Feature Award at the 2019 Galway Film Fleadh), and The Camino Voyage (an Irish language documentary following four Irish musicians in Spain.) You can see a full list of the films that will be showing at this year’s festival in the event’s trailer, and you are also able book tickets here.
Speaking at the launch of this year’s festival, Aine Coady, Founder and Director of the Vancouver Irish Film Festival (VIRFF) had this to say:
“The Irish are known as a nation of storytellers and we are delighted to be able to introduce Vancouver audiences to the best of Irish storytelling through the medium of cinema. We hope our schedule of programming will appeal not only to the growing Irish community in Vancouver but also to a broader audience.”
According to Statistics Canada, more than 675,000 British Columbians self-identified as being of Irish descent in the 2016 census. It should come as no surprise that the event has been a major hit with all strands of the Irish community in Vancouver and further afield. This is reflected by the fact that the 2018 VIRFF received support from the Consulate General of Ireland, and this year’s event has also received funding from the Emigrant Support Programme (ESP), from the Irish Abroad Unit within Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Finally, you do not need to be a film-buff, or even have a connection to Ireland to enjoy VIRFF 2019 as there will be lots of other opportunities for craic to be had. Most notably, there will be Jameson whiskey and Tayto crisps sampling – what’s not to love about that?
If you want more information about this year’s festival or simply want regular updates throughout the three days then you should visit the VIRFF Facebook page.