Irish Reels Film Festival: About Us The festival is a labor of love and every year we are blessed with a wonderful team of volunteers. Thank you to: Susan Denning, Barbra Dey, Maura Donegan, Rosemarie Fitzsimons, Helen Anne Gately, John Hanna, Scott Larson, Orla McGovern, Matt Muldoon, Sean O'Brien and Melanie White for your wonderful contributions of time and energy and your hard work and high spirits while producing Irish Reels 2010. We started this festival after relocating from Ireland in the mid-90's, having observed that the only stories picked up for US distribution from our fair Isle tended to be the more sensationalistic ones and the stereotypical Hollywood Irish film. Our goal is to introduce Seattle audiences to more typical stories that reflect the uniqueness of Irish life (in all its eccentricities) to which we feel more connected. The festival was formed to showcase contemporary Irish films. Our focus is on independently produced work and those that have yet to receive international distribution. We hope to inspire our audiences with thought provoking and powerful stories, stories that are universal yet told from an Irish viewpoint by talented Irish filmmakers. The mission of Irish Reels is three-fold: First, we aim to bring one aspect of the current Irish arts renaissance to Seattle, where audiences have enjoyed the new outpouring of Irish creativity on the stage and page, and now deserve a forum for that same creativity on celluloid. Second, we aim to showcase films which counteract the distorted image of Ireland so often projected by the popular media through cliches and sensationalism--an Ireland struggling to adapt to modern challenges while remaining firmly rooted in its history. And, third, we aim to focus attention on the Irish filmmakers working outside the formulas of Hollywood, staying true to their art and culture and producing films both in Ireland and abroad. Festival Founders: Fidelma McGinn and Caroline Cumming .