Dingle is a town in County Kerry in the south west of Ireland, famous for Fungie the dolphin and 'Ryan's Daughter'; Cannes is a well-known haunt of the rich and famous on the Côte d'Azur. Dingle has a population in the region of 1,500 and, in the best Irish tradition, 52 pubs, roughly 1 pub for every 30 people, something Cannes would struggle to equal or better. Both are coastal towns with spectacular views. And both boast their own annual film festivals.

The Dingle Film Festival, now approaching its sixth anniversary, is the brainchild of one Maurice Galway, its current CEO and Artistic Director. FR2DAY was lucky enough to catch up with Maurice at the recent Cannes Film Festival.

Why are you here at Cannes this year?

I've actually been coming here for a number of years. The Cannes Film Festival is a great opportunity for us to meet up with sales agents, distributors, producers and directors and also to view new films and possibly attract them to our own festival.

Tell us a bit about the Dingle Film Festival?

The festival started back in 2007 and has continued to go from strength to strength. One of the main attractions of the festival is the Gregory Peck Award: For Excellence in the Art of Film, which has been won by many famous names in recent years, including this year's recipient, Jean-Jacques Beineix (Diva, 37º2 Le Matin). Other winners include Stephen Frears (whom I had met twice previously at Cannes), Jim Sheridan and Gabriel Byrne. Actually, Peck's grandmother was from Dingle so it all ties in neatly. We also run a number of different workshops and present talks on the various films being shown during the festival, which is a great way to engage those in attendance.

What kind of films do you feature in the festival?

We look at all aspects of film, from independent productions to high end feature films, documentaries, and shorts. This year we had an eclectic programme with films like "West is West", directed by Andy DeEmmony, "Adam & Paul", directed by Lenny Abrahamson, "Son of Babylon", directed by Mohamed Al Daradji and our very own "We'll Always Have Dingle", directed by Geoff Wonfor, amongst many others.

What are your plans and ambitions for the Dingle Film Festival?

We are always trying to get more international recognition and coming to places like Cannes certainly helps in getting the word out. We also strive to show films of the highest quality and will always continue to ensure that this is the case. We also try to get the talent from the movies we show to be actually present during the festival, and of course would like to attract bigger names all the time. We have also had meetings here in Cannes this time around with companies who are involved with online and satellite workshops, something we may look to incorporate into future festivals.

And finally, how do you find the parties in Cannes?

Networking is always important, especially at an event of this magnitude, as you get to meet so many companies who are big shots on the international stage over a relatively short period of time. Pressing the flesh and putting faces to names of people you may only have dealt with over the phone or through email is invaluable. And it was here, as I said earlier, that I first met with Stephen Frears who we successfully invited to Dingle.

The Dingle Film Festival is held in March of each year and we wish Maurice and his team well for the 2012 edition.

Photo Credits: Lead image and poster - Jamie Tanner; Dingle Red Carpet - Barry Murphy

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