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Director charms audience at film premiere POIGNANT messages
about immigration, friendship and the bond afforded by a shared mother
tongue provoked an excited response at a London cinema.
The Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn hosted the British premiere of Tom Collins’
gritty Irish language film Kings as part of the National Irish Film Festival,
within the capital’s busy St. Patrick’s weekend of events.
The director joined actor Brendan Conroy, who plays Git in the film, to
introduce it at the Kilburn High Road venue and followed it with a lively
question and answer session.
Kings is a compassionate attempt to document the sour-tasting underbelly
of the mass Irish emigration of the ’50s and ’60s.
Director Tom Collins told The Irish Post: “Kings was an attempt
to document this life led by a lost generation.
“I thought these people deserved to have a film made about their
plight.
“Their one remaining bond is their Gaelic tongue, something they
promised one another they would preserve at least within their circle.”
A copy of the Irish Post even featured in the tale and Collins explained:
“I included a copy of The Irish Post because the immigrant community
here in Britain would all be well aware of the paper over the decades.”
Fittingly, the proceeds of all ticket sales on the night will be donated
to the Aisling Project, a charity which puts Irish Emigrants back in touch
with their roots by providing short, assisted trips back home.
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