San Francisco Irish film is celebrating 21 years in the Bay and will be kicking off on September 19th with a theme of Survival at the Delancey Street Screening Room. The UICC is delighted to once again be a sponsor of this wonderful cultural event. Please join us in supporting the 2024 Festival!

The SFIF festival begins on Thursday September 19 with the West Coast premiere of
Tom Waller’s “Kiss of the Con Queen” followed by the festival Opening Night Party.
Dublin native Eoin O’Brien, based in Bangkok, experienced firsthand what can happen
when a struggling actor is trying to make it in the film industry. Eoin is targeted by an
ingenious and sadistic scammer, terrorizing the industry, impersonating Hollywood
elites. Eoin will be joining us after the program to discuss his screenplay and how he
was caught in the trap of the ‘Con Queen of Hollywood’, a master con-artist executing a
prolific global scam on the entertainment industry.

Our survival theme continues Friday, September 20. ‘Short Stories, Tall Tales’ brings
a diverse program of short stories from Ireland’s emerging filmmakers. These stories
present us snapshots of Irish life, from the craziness of online dating in “Unhinged”, a
fresh perspective on Irish mythology in “Fado, Fado” and the experience of immigrants
and refugees living in Ireland. The curated program includes “The Golden West” the
latest film from Oscar winners Tom Berkeley and Ross White which tells the story of two
warring sisters who survived and fled the Great Famine, and now seek their fortunes in
the gold rush.

Saturday, September 21 kicks off at 4pm with Pat Collin’s phenomenal award-winning
film, That They May Face the Rising Sun, an adaptation of the final novel from John
McGahern, one of Ireland’s greatest novelists. Joe and Kate Ruttledge have returned
from London to live and work among a small, lakeside community in rural Ireland near
to where Joe grew up. Now deeply embedded in the life around the lake, the drama of a
year in their lives and those of the memorable characters that move about them unfolds
through the rituals of work, play and the passing seasons as this enclosed world
becomes an everywhere and stars the wonderful Barry Ward.

Next up is ‘Verdigris’, a powerful story about Marian and Jewel, two very different
women who form an unlikely bond. Shabby and unfulfilled, middle-aged middle-class Marian takes a job as a census enumerator and befriends local teenager Jewel as she comes to admire the girl’s independence and strength. Written and directed by Patricia Kelly, the film has won numerous awards including the Best Irish Film at Newport Beach Film Festival and Best Independent Film at the Galway Film Fleadh.

The closing film at 8 pm is Brian Reddin’s ‘Rory Gallagher – Calling Card’ – the life story
of Rory Gallagher, one of Ireland’s most prolific guitar players and blues writers. The film
includes interviews with Bob Geldof, Johnny Marr, Brian May, Moya Brennan and
Imelda May. It celebrates his talents, acknowledges the tragic aspects of his story, and
traces the grand arc of his life, from his birth in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, to his
childhood in Mac Curtain Street in the heart of Cork city, where he fell in love with the
blues and acquired his first guitar.

SFIF is very grateful to all our sponsors who make it possible to bring the festival to our
audiences every year! The Consulate General of Ireland, San Francisco, Ranger
Pipelines, INBA, United Irish Cultural Center, Focus Academy, SF/ARTS, IFI, Culture
Ireland, and Screen Ireland.