Niall McKay – Artists Without Walls

THE IFNY and NIALL McKAY PRESENT: IRISH FILM NEW YORK'S 4TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL

The Irish Film New York (IFNY) and Artists Without Walls’ member Niall McKay is excited to announce that the IFNY will host a talk with Oscar-nominated writer and director, Jim Sheridan, (My Left Foot, In America) and screenings of three of his award-winning films.

IFNY is also back this year with its fourth annual slate of top-notch contemporary Irish films. The festival kicks off Friday, October 3rd with Game of Thrones’ starring Maisie Williams and directed by Niall Heery. The festival continues with the North American premiere of the fascinating documentary Broken Song, which follows three hip-hop musicians/writers from hardscrabble areas of Dublin as they struggle to find and articulate meaning in an often-chaotic world.

Screenings also include the US premiere of the comedy Poison Pen, about a celebrated author (Lochlainn O’Mearain) who is blackmailed into writing for a tabloid gossip magazine and finds himself caught up in a world of stars and their secrets and in danger of turning into a tabloid celebrity himself. IFNY will also feature the New York premiere of the hypnotically beautiful Out of Here a contemporary coming-of-age story shedding Dublin

and its youth culture in a light not previously seen or explored. Rounding out the screening series is the engrossing Love Eternal (New York Premiere) from Brendan Muldowney, a touching drama that immerses us in the seldom-exposed world of necrophilia and assisted suicide and is a macabre ode to love, loss and the bonds that unite us.

The festival also features the signature opening night party at Glucksman Ireland House on Friday October 3rd, prior to the opening night film. For more information on the films included in this year’s festival and to watch trailers and buy tickets click here

ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' MEMBERS on the TOWN: WEEK of 9/29

Brendan Connellan’s play KILL THE BID! will have its final performance today, Sunday, at 3pm. at Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street. Tickets are $21.25 (including Theatre Restoration fee) but AWoW members and friends can go to www.broadwayoffers.com and punch in the code TRAWOW and pay $18.25in the box. Phone 212-239 6200 or 800-432 7250.

Artists Without Walls presents its “Showcase at The Cell Theater,” 338 W. 23rd St., NYC. Monday, 7pm, September 30th. Evening includes actors Jack O’Connell, Nancy Oda and Mary Tierney, author Honor Molloy, singer/songwriters Tara O’Grady and Sasha Papernik, the soulful sound of mbiraNYC’s music of Zimbabwe and more.

The plays of Kate McLeod, who also is the event’s producer, and Tzila Levy will be performed at the Bacon Theater Festival, Thursday Oct 3rd, 6:30-9:00pm at the Ding Dong Lounge, 929 Columbus Avenue, NYC. Tickets are $25, which includes one bacon mac and cheese, 1 dessert and 1 glass of wine. Click here for tickets

Niall McKay and “Irish Film New York” is back with its third annual slate of top-notch contemporary Irish cinema. All films screen at the Cantor Film Center of New York University on East 8th St. The festival kicks off Friday October 4th with “Run and Jump” starring Saturday Night Live’s Will Forte and directed by the Oscar-nominated Steph Green. AWoW members can buy discounted $10 tickets (normally $12) for any of the films included in the festival by using the promotional code: OFIG. For more information on the critically acclaimed films included in this year’s festival and to watch trailers and buy tickets go to http://www.irishfilmnyc.com/tickets/

New York Irish Center Concert Series hosts Tara O’Grady & her Black Velvet Band, Friday, October 4 at 8:30pm. 10-40 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NYC Advanced tickets: Tara O’Grady Regular Tickets $25 Tara O’Grady Seniors/Students/Unemployed $15 If you missed Tara’s CD launch, this is your chance to hear her full band perform favorites off all three albums. Doors open at 7:30pm.

"SPOTLIGHT ON" FILMMAKER NIALL McKAY

Who is Niall McKay?

I am an Emmy-winning filmmaker, film curator and the festival director for Irish Film New York. Last year, I was a juror for the Galway Film Festival and was on the shorts’ selection committee for the Tribeca Film Festival.

What are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on Irish Film New York, a screening series of contemporary Irish Films at NYU’s Cantor Center and Glucksman Ireland House. I am producing a documentary for PBS on a group of Filipinos who started what became the United Farm Workers Union and I’m writing and directing a comedy series about Irish Artists in New York called On The Ligg.

What honors have you received for your filmmaking?

I have received an Emmy for a film called Sikhs in America and was nominated for a 2009 Irish Film and Television Academy Award for a documentary about my father called The Bass Player which screened on RTE Television in Ireland.

Do you have an upcoming event or showing you’d like people to attend?

I would love you all to attend Irish Film New York. We have a wonderful opening night party at Glucksman Ireland House on Friday Oct 3rd at 5.30pm followed by Oscar Nominee Steph Green’s first feature, Run & Jump at 7.30pm

Who are the filmmakers you admire?

I admire anybody who can finish a film. It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever do. But personally, my creative muse is the love child of Billy Wilder, the Dardenne brothers, and Jim Sheridan. Films that make you laugh, make you cry and keep you guessing. Guy Hamilton’s version of An Inspector Calls (1954) starring Alastair Sims was a film that I saw as an 8 year old. I’ve never seen it since but it’s probably my motivation for being a filmmaker.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration and why?

My eighty-four year old father, Corny, an Irish Jazz bassist. Corny brought up two kids on his own under very challenging circumstances and managed to keep true to his art. In fact, he still plays every Sunday at Sweeney’s Hotel on Dame Street in Dublin.

What are the top five things you’d like to accomplish in the next five years?

I’d like to make a family, make a feature film and make a living. That’s enough for me.

Irish Film New York

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Niall McKay’s Website