Galway Film Fleadh Named a Top 50 Festival

MovieMaker recently added the Galway Film Fleadh to its annual list of 50 Film Festivals worth the entry fee, which celebrates festivals that serve moviemakers and audiences in some of the best destinations in the world. 

MovieMaker, a film magazine and website based in Los Angeles, compiles its annual list based on surveys, filmmaker testimonials, and visits to festivals, among other factors. Key considerations include how much assistance a festival provides to traveling filmmakers;  recent premieres at the festival; opportunities to meet distributors, fans, fellow filmmakers and press; and whether festivals are Academy-qualifying. 

Speaking about the Fleadh, MovieMaker noted that,  “The Galway Film Fleadh is also one of our 20 Essential International Film Festivals, and draws smart audiences from all over the world’s to Ireland’s enchanted West Coast for a celebration of art, as well as a great chance to network over tea or pints in cozy, storybook environs. The fleadh’s programmers landed award magnets like Celine Song’s Past Lives, as well as hosting a slew of European or world premieres. It is generous with travel costs, and runs parallel to the Galway Film Fair, which features a marketplace that coordinates about 700 pre-scheduled meetings each year between filmmakers and industry representatives (including buyers, financers, sales agents and distributors) from more than 30 countries. Recent attendees included XYZ Films, Neon, StudioCanal, Eurimages, Film 4, Kinology, Picture Tree International, Visit Films, Epic Pictures and more. …” 

Galway Film Fleadh’s Head Of Programming, Maeve McGrath on the announcement, noted that, “The team work very hard to make the “Fleadh’ experience a special one for each film maker that screens at the Galway Film Fleadh and it is wonderful to see that hard work recognised by MovieMaker Magazine. In the ever-changing landscape of film festivals, the Fleadh understands the joy of sitting in a cinema watching a film and then meeting the film makers afterwards. The connection between the audience, the film makers and the film industry is what makes the Fleadh thrive.” 

Galway Film Fleadh is a week-long international film festival taking place every July on the western edge of Europe in Galway.

Founded in 1989 as a platform for Irish filmmakers to exhibit their work to their peers, the central goal of the Galway Film Fleadh remains unchanged: to be a platform for the boldest new films, and to bring audiences & filmmakers from around the world together, to celebrate our shared passion for film.
The 36th edition will take place 9th-14th of July 2024.  For information, visit GalwayFilmFleadh.com.