Following the announcement from the government that cinemas will remain closed until August 10^th and large gatherings will not be allowed for some time, the Galway Film Fleadh have made the decision to present our 2020 festival edition online.

To continue our mission to bring audiences and film artists together to celebrate cinema we have partnered with a leading streaming service to provide a seamless, secure and easy-to-use online experience so that the 2020 Galway Film Fleadh remains an unmissable event in the national and international film calendar.

The Film Fleadh programme will continue to be a diverse mix of features, documentaries, animations, shorts, and interactive cinema events, albeit on a smaller scale than the physical festival.

Moving the Fleadh online doesn’t mean replicating the event in a digital space but reimagining it to be the best online experience possible. There will be a reduced, more focused programme because we don’t want to split audience attention when we don’t have a physical event space keeping us all together. We want to give every film their moment in the spotlight and make every selected film part of a united conversation.

– Film Fleadh Programme Director, Will Fitzgerald

Our short film programme will continue to  drive the discovery of new talent and springboard new voices towards international recognition and Oscar® consideration. With regard to our Short Film Programmes we have clarified that our winning Best Short Film Live Action and Best Short Animation will go straight on to the long list as per previous years. To give all hopeful filmmakers the best possible shot at this accolade, the Deadline for Short Film Submissions has been extended to Friday 22^nd May.

‘Coming Together’ will be a key theme of this year’s festival, with twelve guest curators from festivals across Europe contributing to the event. Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture and Galway Film Fleadh are delighted to present  the official launch of Peripheral Visions, which will see the Irish premieres of European films from France, Poland, Switzerland, Iceland, Finland, Germany, Greece, Spain, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Canada.

It wouldn’t be a Fleadh without Galway’s signature social touch however, and the festival’s online edition will feature live-streamed filmmaker Q+A’s, audience participation via social media and conferencing software such as Zoom, as well as live-streamed masterclasses, panel discussions, the Fleadh’s industry meetings, and maybe even a virtual Rowing Club during social hours!

Films can be streamed via the Film Fleadh website, to audience members’ preferred devices including Smart TVs, laptops, phones and tablets. As a further security measure, and to preserve something of the national flavour of the Galway Film Fleadh, films will be geo-locked to an Irish audience, with a limited amount of tickets sold. What is exciting about our online event is that, for the first time, our national audience will be a truly nation-wide one. By participating online, audiences will take part in the Galway Film Fleadh from all corners of the island of Ireland. It is our ambition to make our films and our filmmakers part of a national conversation for each day of the festival.

The Galway Film Fleadh is supported by the Arts Council, Galway 2020, Screen Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen.

The Galway Film Fleadh will take place online from July 7^th at galwayfilmfleadh.com.