Blazing a trail

Celebrating local Irish roots through film, the annual Baton Rouge Irish Film Festival returns this month, showing a variety of Irish films at the Manship Theatre. The two-day festival has grown each year since its inception, offering workshops, performances and a Saturday night after party at Boudreaux & Thibodeaux’s.

This year’s fifth annual festival will boast several acclaimed films, such as The Secret of Roan Inish, Earthbound, Blazing the Trail to Ireland—a documentary on The Kalem Film Company—and The Guard with Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, who organizers say is rumored to attend this year. 

Laura McDavitt, director of the Baton Rouge Irish Club, sees the success of the festival going hand-in-hand with the success of the local film industry. “We have a whole new industry here. We have the excitement, we have the interest; let’s roll with it,” she says.

This year, filmgoers will be able to vote on their favorite short film. And next year, representatives from the festival will travel to Dublin, Ireland, to present an award to the crowd favorite at an international film festival there.

The Baton Rouge Irish Film Festival is July 19 and 20. Tickets to each film are $8.50. For more information, go to batonrougeirishfilmfestival.