Two wonderful covers such as “Dearg Doom” (Horslips) and “Street Jammer” (MANILLAROAD) make this album something that can't be missed. It’s really the time to say it again… BUY OR DIE!
...Canadian band Enter the Haggis, made their Colorado debut at the fest last year. They can deliver a sweet harmony and turn around and blast the leaves off the trees with their dueling guitars drums and bagpipes. Other fan favorites returning to CIF include the irrepressible Beth Paterson and Irish "Jig Punk" band The Prodigals.
New to this years Cultural Village is Milwaukee Irish Festival Ward Archive's exhibit entitled The History of Irish Rock. The exhibit will examine, through displays and artifacts, the history of Irish Rock beginning with the 1950's "Irish ShowBand" phenomena through The Irish "beat bands", Irish progressive rock bands such as Thin Lizzy and Skid Row, and continue with Artists stories including Van Morrison, Rory Gallagher, Barry McGuire, Horslips, The Bachelors, Elvis Costello, Chris de Burgh, The Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof, U2, Sinead O'Connor, Clannad, The Cranberries, The Corrs, and much more.
From the Mayo Advertiser
The festival kicks off in style on Sunday July 1 with The Tango Lesson, and continues through to Wednesday evening with Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh’s comical look at the writing of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. Sunday screenings also include Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man, and Horslips: Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts, Maurice Linnane’s endearing documentary about one of the most important Irish groups in the history of music. The Horslips film will be made all the more special for fans of the band as original bassist Barry Devlin will introduce the screening.
...A lot of directors and filmmakers at the festival, among whom were Dave Anderson and Heather Brunt, the director and producer of the short film 'Jacks.' They were thrilled their film was screened at the Mid-Ulster and loved the location, especially the 'homely' relaxed atmosphere and the on-site cottages. So much so that they say, "we've been inspired at this year's festival to make another movie. We hope to have it ready in time for next year."
The organisers hope that for next year they will have a budget to invite all the production teams who have submitted a film to their festival. They feel that this is not only important to the international development of the festival, but also is a wonderful way to promote the Omagh area as a tourist destination.
Other highlights included the world premiere of the digitally remastered Transformers - The Movie, Boletos Por Favor, Missing Jib, The Undertaker, Ahaarrr! and Victor and the machine. All in all the whole weekend was such a vibrant and brilliant event – here's looking forward to the fifth Mid-Ulster Film Festival.
Leaving the last word to Barry Devlin: "One more time... the Mid Ulster Film festival lived up to its billing as 'The Sundance of West Tyrone' bringing a fine roster of films (including a European premier of 'Proud') to a unique setting and a uniquely friendly and characterful festival. Proactive, educational, informative, entertaining, community based... The World's Most Dangerous Acronym ticks all the boxes.
"One more time, I was able to gain more from the people in my film-writing class than they got from me. One more time... Neil Jordan swears he's coming next year."
Perhaps they were just a decade or so ahead of their time, since the Horslips first blazed the trail in North America in the mid seventies, the likes of the Boomtown Rats, Pogues, Hothouse Flowers,The Cranberries and of course the all dominating U2 caught the fancy of the world, let alone North America.
