British and Irish Film Festival: Q&A with director Fergus Grady

The British and Irish film festival is now underway across the country, once again offering audiences the chance to see some of the cream of the crop from across the pond.

Festival director Fergus Grady took some time to chat the festival - and share his picks!

Welcome back to NZ - what is it about this festival and its mix of films that keep people coming back for more?

It’s great to be back for our 2nd edition and we hope to build on the success of last year by bringing great British & Irish cinema to every corner of Aotearoa NZ. We feel the mix of big cast driven films (Conclave, The Return & We Live in Time) along with indie award-winning gems (Chuck Chuck Baby, Lies We Tell & Hard Truths) gives us the right alchemy to entertain NZ audiences over Labour weekend and beyond.

Conclave looks like a sensational opening night film - what can you tell us about it? And do you have a cinematic crush on Ralph Fiennes, given he's also in the programme in The Return?

We’re thrilled that audiences have responded so enthusiastically to Conclave where we’ve sold out over twenty sessions so far. All I can say is that its an edge of your seat political thriller than will keep audiences in suspense throughout. Having The Return in our line-up adds to that celebration of the extraordinary career of Ralph Fiennes and one in which we hope will be recognised by the academy come March.

The festival always seems like a place to see stuff first - and Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh's latest is no exception - what's special about this one?

We Live in Time will have its Australasian premiere on Friday during the festival and our October/November festival window means that NZ audiences will always get access to Venice, Toronto & Telluride Film Fest premieres only a few weeks after the stars of the films walk the red carpet. Ironically Andrew Garfield brought out a cardboard cutout of Florence Pugh this week at the London premiere while she is currently here in Aotearoa NZ filming in the South island.

It's rare to see music docos and concert films on the big screen - what can you tell us about the iconic Blur's films?

The opportunity to present not only one but two films about the iconic British band Blur was too good to be true. Even though New Zealanders might not have been able to secure tickets for the sold out Wembley concert last year, we hope Kiwi Blur fans can enjoy the surround sound and  comforts of their local cinema to rock out to some classic Britpop!

What's your pick from the festival and why?

I always like to pick a film that might get looked over by the majority of audiences and for me that’s Hard Truths which was a late announcement to the festival. We’ve been chasing the film since its Toronto film fest premiere and were only able to secure it after we went to print on the program (audiences will need to find all the available info from our website). My hope from this year's fest is that Marianne Jean-Baptiste finally wins best actress come Oscar time.

Which film do you think will be most popular with audiences and why?

Conclave has already proved to be the most popular presale film with audiences especially in Christchurch where we’ve sold out almost every session except for sessions in Rangiora. I feel like we might see a few people from Christchurch city making the trip north just to secure a seat for Conclave!

Finally, what's the one film from the lineup you want to be in the audience with to see - and why?

The one film I want audiences to seek out is the Merchant Ivory documentary. Most of our audience would have seen Howard’s End & Remains of the Day, but the documentary reveals how beautiful the creative collaboration between director James Ivory & Ismail Merchant was. If audiences haven’t seen Howard’s End & Remains of the Day then that’s three films they should see in this years festival!

You can find all the details of the British and Irish Film Festival at https://www.britishfilmfestival.co.nz/