Irish eyes are smiling on Connecticut this week. Three separate Irish film events — two festivals and an individual screening — are being held around the state.
Fairfield
The Irish Studies Program at Fairfield University presents its ninth annual “The Irish in Film,” a five-movie free program starting on Wednesday, Sept. 28. The films will be shown in the Multimedia Room of the University’s DiMenna-Nyselius Library, on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Members of the Irish Studies faculty will do Q&As after.
The series begins with “Pilgrim Hill,” a 2012 drama about a bachelor farmer caring for his ill father. Adjunct professor John E. Feeney will talk after.
On Oct. 5, Neil Jordan’s historical epic “Michael Collins” will be shown. The 1996 film stars Liam Neeson as the Irish revolutionary and also stars Alan Rickman and Julia Roberts. Politics professor Kevin Cassidy will do the talk.
On Oct. 12, the film is “August Rush, a 2013 story of a musical prodigy. English professor Robert Epstein will do the Q&A.
The 2014 thriller “71” will be shown Oct. 19, telling the story of a riot in Belfast. Irish studies co-director William Abbott will talk.
On Oct. 26, “Brooklyn” closes the series. The 2015 drama is about a woman who moves from Ireland to Brooklyn in the 1950s. English professor Nels Pearson will introduce the film.
Hamden
On Thursday, Sept. 29, “1916 The Irish Rebellion,” a documentary about an uprising in Dublin during Easter Week 1916, will be shown at 4 p.m. in the Mount Carmel Auditorium at Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Ave. in Hamden. The screening is sponsored by Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, which is in Hamden and is affiliated with the university.
A panel discussion will follow, with the film’s executive producer Christopher Fox; Christine Kinealy, director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University; Bríona Nic Dhíarmada, the creator of the documentary; and English professor Robert Smart. Admission is free but registration is required at ighm.org.
Glastonbury
The Irish American Home Society, 132 Commerce St. in Glastonbury, will host its first Irish Film Festival on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The festival will kick off on Friday at 8 p.m. with the same documentary, “1916 the Irish Rebellion,” and Dhíarmada and Fox will be present for a Q&A. Admission is $25, or $50 for the film and VIP party after.
The Glastonbury festival continues on Saturday with two family-friendly screenings. “Song of the Sea,” an animated story of a girl who is a selkie, will be shown at 10 a.m., followed by a Q&A with Irish folklorist Marty Mulligan and Mount St. Mary’s College English professor Daniel Shea. It will be followed by a screening at 1 p.m. of “The Secret of Kells,” an animated story based on The Book of Kells. Mulligan and Shea will do a Q&A after that screening, too. Admission to the animated films is $8, $5 children.
The festival continues Saturday at 4 p.m. with “Michael Collins.” Admission is $10. The series concludes that day at 7:30 p.m. with “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” a 2006 drama about two brothers fighting the British. Admission is $10, or $20 for those who want to attend the wrap party after the film.
Details: irishamericanhome.com/FilmFestival.
