"We always keep in mind what the Galway audience would want to see and connect with” — so says Maeve McGrath, the Director of Programming for Galway Film Fleadh, which is preparing for its 37th festival next week.

Throughout its 37-year history the Galway Film Fleadh has at times found itself amid controversies about films on its programmes. There has been plenty of debate surrounding the opening film of this year's Fleadh — Jim Sheridan’s Re-Creation.

The film is a courtroom drama based on true events about the murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in 1996 at her vacation home in West Cork. In a fictitious trial, 12 members of a jury try to decide whether British journalist Ian Bailey is guilty of her murder.

“Providing a platform for Irish filmmakers to exhibit their work has always been the core of Galway Film Fleadh and we are proud to have maintained it over the years,” remarked Ms McGrath.

“When Re-Creation came to us, it had just opened in Tribeca, and it’s a case that is still open. That is something you have to be aware of when you are watching it.

“There is so much going on in it, about the story that we have all read in the newspapers, and so everybody is going to have a strong opinion on that.

“What we do as filmmakers is we provide the film or idea, and let people have their opinion. They will come along; they will watch it and maybe they will return with a changed opinion, or they might not.”

Maeve believes that having the film presented in front of an Irish audience, who can connect with the story more than the American audience, might bring out a different reaction.

“Irish people have been hearing the story over and over again, I am fascinated to see what they will think after watching the film.”

Last year's Fleadh had ‘Kneecap’ as its opening film, which generated a lot of publicity and the band has continued to find themselves in different controversies since then.

The film’s premiere in Galway was a sell-out and the festival committee had to organise a second screening due to high demand.

Work on choosing films to showcase at the Film Fleadh takes place throughout the year and the committee endeavours to bring the best selection to Galway. As one festival ends, the team starts working on the following year’s — attending other film festivals and keeping an eye on what films might be coming up. Film makers can also submit their work themselves for consideration by the Fleadh committee.

“Even for this year’s programme, we have selected 96 feature films after watching thousands of submitted works from all around the world.

“There are so many brilliant films that we don’t put in the Fleadh, simply because we don’t have enough time and space.”

The Galway Film Fleadh doesn't really have a theme, but a trend can often be seen with the overall selection of films because of what is going on around the world.

This year audiences will be able to see a lot of family drama and typical family struggles that have been made into independent feature films.

“We also try to look for what our audience would want to see, which is really important. We have an audience that has been coming here for 37 years, and they want to see their own stories on the screen.

“We have a great film Agatha’s Almanac, the story of an old woman who is living on her little farm. She collects seeds and grows them to make sure these plants still exist later on, which is just a beautiful look at life.

“I think a lot of what we see on the screen is what people are talking about. With so much chaos in the world, there is a real sense of people wanting to go back to the land and feel their feet on the ground.

“People are challenging the norms and are looking for alternative ways to take a break from their fast paced, hardworking lives.”

There is a great variety in the films being shown at this year's festival.

The programme includes films that tackle the war in Sudan, while another film looks at the lives of people with Alzheimer’s and the struggles they face.

“Films often remind us of the stories that we might have forgotten over the years, but those stories and the people in those stories might have made a big difference in our lives,” remarked Ms McGrath.

One of the films to be screened at the festival is We Only Want the Earth, which is a film by the talented Alan Gilson. It tells the story about James Connolly and the trade union movement in Ireland.

Spare My Bones, Coyote! is another beautiful documentary film telling the story of a group of volunteers who go out looking for bodies of immigrants trying to cross the US-Mexico border on foot and couldn’t make it.

“Film, theatres and visual art moves you to that emotional side. In film we are telling you a complete story, but we also have to remember that we are telling that story from the director’s point of view,” added Maeve.

“Film Fleadhs are a great place to learn more from each other, and I would like to encourage all the filmmakers to not just watch their own films but watch what others have created as well,” said Maeve.

From features, documentaries and drama to shorts and animation, there is something for everyone to look forward to.

“Even people who are not big film enthusiasts but just want to watch something of their interest can go to our website and search for the category of film that interests them.

“There are several films that are Galway made, one of which is Báite, a beautiful film set in Connemara.

“I know our local audience likes to see Galway on the screen and we keep that in mind when making our selection.

“Several new ideas are coming through as well, including a brilliant film called The Reckoning of Erin Morrigan, which I think the local audience is going to be interested in. Sunphlower is another film that features older people on screen telling the story.”

A key ethos of the fleadh has always been to provide a platform for both emerging and established filmmakers to exhibit their films.

“We have grown the emerging filmmaker’s category over the years. They have their own category now.

“This has been one of the long running themes for the last 37 years, us making sure that new people are seen and heard.

“The industry will come in and go to films anyway, but we are always thinking about what that person in Monivea or Claregalway or Tuam would want to see.

“If someone is coming in from distant places for a day, it’s our responsibility to provide them with something worth their time and effort.

“Another focus is to make sure good quality Irish films and world cinema are available to the Galway audience. We try to screen the films that people of Galway won’t be able to see anywhere else,” concluded Ms. McGrath.

Galway Film Fleadh runs from Tuesday, July 8 to Sunday, July 13. With France being the country of focus, the festival will have 48 Irish premieres, 28 world premieres and 11 European/International premieres. It will feature the work of filmmakers from 29 different countries with 38 debut filmmakers presenting their films in Galway.

This year the festival will have a record-breaking screening of 44 Irish feature films, with 11 of them being in the Irish language. All these films are subtitled for non-Irish speakers.

Bookings and full programme at www.galwayfilmfleadh.com