• Friday
• Feb. 17, 2012
• 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

The Jamestown Arts Center will begin is monthly third Thursday screenings of films from the 2011 Rhode Island International Film Festival beginning Thursday November 17th at 7:00pm. The inaugural screening will present writer/director Peter Finch's 86 minute feature documentary Blazing the Trail: The O'Kalems in Ireland, produced and filmed in Ireland and the U.S. In 1910, the New York based Kalem Film Company made history by sending its leading filmmakers - director Sidney Olcott and screenwriter and lead actress Gene Gauntier - to County Kerry, Ireland. Known to the public as the “O'Kalems,” Olcott and Gauntier created The Lad from Old Ireland, the first fiction film to be made in Ireland and the first American film made outside the continental U.S. The film was an immediate hit and the team returned to Ireland numerous times over the next several years producing groundbreaking films in Ireland - rebel dramas, folk romances, tales of exile and emigration - all celebrated for their authentic Irish settings and unrivaled in their use of scenery.
The popularity of these films in America was such that Olcott's fame as a director was second only to D.W. Griffith's, while Gauntier was one of the industry's most popular female leads. Blazing the Trail reveals Olcott and Gauntier's adventures and misadventures in Ireland: how they made films without electricity; used locals as actors; provoked the condemnation of a local priest and ran afoul of the British authorities. With never-before-seen footage and images, commentary from leading scholars on early and Irish cinema, and evocative period music, the film is a moving celebration of Ireland, the O'Kalems, and the art of the silent cinema. More information: www.blazingthetrailfilm.com
Accompanying the feature film is the 14 minute Australian short film The Telegram Man, produced and directed by James Khehtie. Set in a small Australian town in 1942, the film touches on the tragic results of war that far too many families had to deal with during WWII, and the oft-overlooked feelings of those that had to deliver this news. Featuring renowned Australian actors Jack Thompson, Gary Sweet, and Sigrid Thornton.
Along with numerous other awards, The Telegram Man was recently nominated for Best Short Fiction Film for the prestigious 2012 Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards.
 
7:00pm start, $10 ticket donation at the door only. For more information: www.jamestownartcenter.org and www.rifilmfest.org.

$1.00-$10.00

http://www.jamestownartcenter.org

401-423-3297

djdonaghue@yahoo.com

• Thursday
• Nov. 17, 2011
• 9:00 PM

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