Overview:
We have loved working with Irish Film & Television UK on the Irish Film Festival London 2023. This year's festival screened 13 films and a shorts programme at the Vue West End, Vue Piccadilly and the London Irish Centre, showcasing the very best of Irish talent.
PR campaign:
The campaign launched with the UK premiere of One Night in Millstreet. Boxing champions Steve Collins and Chris Eubank were reunited at the red carpet event, surrounded by fans and photographers (including PA Media and David Bennett Pictures) eager to capture the moment. The evening ended on a high with a reception at the Century Club.
Coverage highlights included a feature in The Times with Steve Collins, who was also interviewed on talkSPORT, the UK's biggest sports radio station with a reach of up to 3 million listeners a week. One Night in Millstreet director Andrew Gallimore and Festival Director Michael Hayden were also interviewed on Times Radio on the Ed Vaizey show.
Films by and about women were also at the heart of this year's festival. Joe Lee's 406 Days - The Debenhams Picket Line was covered on Woman's Hour (BBC Radio 4) where presenter Emma Barnett interviewed former shop stewards Carol Ann Bridgeman and Jane Crowe, who feature in the documentary. Patricia Kelly, the director of Verdigris, was also interviewed on Times Radio's Alexis Conran show.
The Reviews Hub reviewed six of the films in the festival, and in particular praised the opening film (One Night in Millstreet) and closing film (Five and a Half Love Stories), giving them both four-star reviews.
The festival was extensively supported by Irish press, especially The Irish World - a media partner of the festival and a weekly newspaper for the Irish community in Britain - who ran a series of articles on films by and about women in the festival, with six features in total that appeared both in print and online. The Irish Times, with a circulation of 1.2 million, attended and covered the awards ceremony. The Irish Post featured Michael Hayden's appointment as Festival Director and did a piece introducing the festival programme, as well as a feature on the awards.
