ENTERTAINMENT: Cailín Ciúin star to attend Ballinrobe Festival screening

Ballinrobe Festival is underway and continuing until July 30, with a host of local, national and international acts. This week’s events include headline performances at Ballinrobe Racecourse by ABBAesque (Friday, 8pm) and Ash (Saturday, 8pm – supported by Dead Raze).
Also this week there will be a special screening of Irish Oscar-nominated film ‘An Cailín Ciúin’ (‘The Quiet Girl’) at Ballinrobe Library tonight (Thursday) at 8pm. The night will include a guest appearance by Andrew Bennett, who plays a lead role, for an intimate evening in one of the town's best loved venues.
Set in the Rural Ireland of 1981, An Cailín Ciúin captured hearts all over the globe as it stormed towards an Oscar nomination earlier this year. The story centres around a quiet, neglected girl (played by Catherine Clinch) as she is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with foster parents for the summer. She blossoms in their care, but ‘...in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one’.
Beautifully shot and paced, the film was nominated in the Best Foreign Language category of the Oscars. The script brings the Gaelic language to life, reminding Irish viewers our rich linguistic heritage, while being English subtitled for everyone to enjoy, regardless of their Irish-language proficiency or cultural background.
A Q&A will be hosted by local playwright and author Mick Donnellan, and the audience will have the chance to meet lead actor Andrew Bennet too. One of Ireland’s best-known actors, Andrew has enjoyed a stellar career on stage and screen. His other film credits include ‘Angela’s Ashes’, ‘This is my Father’ and ‘The Bachelor Weekend’.

• For more, see the Ballinrobe Festival page on Facebook. Tickets for all festival events can be booked via www.eventbrite.com.