CHICAGO — In addition to the many other creative activities of Mike Houlihan, which have included actor, writer, radio host and political consultant, he became a film festival impresario nearly a decade ago and is still at it, happily.
“It’s been a real joy to be exposed to films few people get to see,” he tells me.
This role was born of the frustration he felt at not being able to find a film festival home for two films that he directed and produced, “Her Majesty, ‘da Queen,” a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at the process and politics involved in selecting Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day Queen, and “Our Irish Cousins,” a charming film that follows Houlihan to his roots in Ireland; the late critic Roger Ebert wrote that it was “made with such genial spirits and good humor.”
Houlihan called his festival the Irish American Movie Hooley. “Hooley” means an Irish party usually with music and it was no coincidence that it resembled “Houli,” the nickname by which Houlihan has long been known.
So the festival was born and it remains, as it enters its eighth year, the only such film fest in the world.
This year, the festival changes locations. In previous years, it was held over one weekend at the Siskel Film Center. This year’s event takes place at two venues over two weekends: Classic Cinemas Lake Theatre in Oak Park Friday through Sunday, and the Wilmette Theatre Sept. 23-25.
“This will I think give us the ability to reach more people,” Houlihan said.
As in years past, there will be three films featured.
The opening offering is “Extra Ordinary,” which at its heart is a charming if very unusual love story. It stars Maeve Higgins as Rose, a gentle driving instructor who has a gift for exorcism that she inherited from her late father, a celebrity paranormalist who made video guides.
She gave it up after his death, in which she played a pivotal part. But she is drawn back into the supernatural game in order to help a sad and very needy widower (Barry Ward), haunted by the ghost of his late wife. Complicating matters is an over-the-hill rock star (Will Forte) who just happens to be a Satanist. If this all sounds a bit silly, it is, but pleasantly so, with visual gags aplenty and some fine comedic acting.
The Saturday offering is “Redemption of a Rogue,” a surprisingly self-assured first film by award-winning playwright Philip Doherty.
It tells of a beaten and bedraggled fellow named Jimmy Cullen (Aaron Monaghan), who is dragging himself back to his fictional small hometown following a seven-year absence after he left in shame after screwing up on a soccer field.
His aim to die by suicide gets derailed by troubles with his brother Damien (Kieran Roche), who is in debt to some nasty people, and the death of their father. Their father, also a nasty sort, had a will that stipulated that Jimmy and Damien would get no inheritance if they buried him on a rainy day.
And so it rains … and rains and rains. This allows time for Jimmy to start an awkward relationship with a drug dealing singer (Aisling O’Mara), while the townspeople blame the brothers for various misfortunes.
This is a warmly eccentric film, with a lively soundtrack. The characters are engaging and distinctive. Flashbacks are deftly handled, some religious themes are never too loudly shouted and the cast is appealing.
The film took top prizes — Best Irish First Feature and Best Irish Film — at its premiere at the Galway Film Festival.
The festival’s Sunday finale is “The Boys of Kingsbridge: From Grammar School to Ground Zero,” which begins innocently enough with home movies focusing on some lifelong friends, who, as kids, went to church, to school and shared the sort of adventures that all city kids shared. Their neighborhood was the tightly knit Irish Catholic community in the Bronx known as Kingsbridge.
They grew up and got jobs and on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, they found themselves in the middle of the horror that struck from the sky.
The men — Danny McNally, an NYPD bomb squad detective; Mike Hussey, a union electrician; Eddie O’Mahoney, a firefighter for the FDNY, and Brendan Carroll, the staff engineer for a building near the World Trade Center — were eyewitnesses to the tragedy of 9/11 and offer chilling and still sharp memories many years later.
Thomas MacNamara has been a lifelong friend of these men, remaining so even after he moved to Los Angeles, where he owns the Irish Import Shop in Hollywood. He directed and produced this film and conducted the interviews. His familiarity gives the film an amazing impact, with an intensity and honesty that is at once chilling and intimate.
We come to understand how the ethics of the men’s upbringing guided their actions on 9/11. None of the men refer to themselves as heroes but it is easy to understand how admirably they behaved in the face of danger and death.
In a fashion, this is a film that takes advantage of friendship but is never exploitative. It is not embellished with the familiar images of 9/11 that we have all seen on news shows and in other documentaries. Except for those home movies from long ago and some contemporary maps, there is little nightmarish news footage.
The movie is focused on the four men, and their stories are frank and raw in ways they might only be able to be in the company of a friend. They were obviously comfortable enough to share some heartbreaking stories and in the end, the film honors them in a profoundly personal way. Only an hour long, it will stay with you forever.
As has been the festivals’ way in past years, some of the filmmakers will be in attendance.
“That has always been the bonus for me,” says Houlihan. “Getting to meet the actors and filmmakers over the years has been an inspirational joy.”
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The Irish American Movie Hooley screens Sept. 16-18 at Classic Cinema’s Lake Theatre, 1022 Lake St., Oak Park, and Sept. 23-25 at the Wilmette Theatre, 1122 Central Ave., Wilmette; www.hiberniantransmedia.org
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