Chicago Irish Film Festival Presents 'Kilimanjaro Mama' Today

The 21st Annual Chicago Irish Film Festival premiers award-winning films Sunday along with a reception to close the four-day festival featuring 50 works by Irish filmmakers working in Ireland, U.S., Australia, Canada, Northern Ireland, England, Palestine and Tanzania.

Sunday, March 1, 2020 1 p.m. Society of the Arts: Gallery Theatre, 1112 N. Milwaukee Avenue

Kilimanjaro Mama is an uplifting documentary that illustrates that one person really can make a difference. “Kilimanjaro Mama” is enjoying its U.S. Premier following a successful 2019 when it was named “Best Feature Film” at the Kerry International Film Festival.

Despite dealing with many challenges, both personal and logistical, Tralee native and Kerry National School teacher Louise Quill transformed the lives of a group of orphaned children in Tanzania. At the age of 23, Quill became known as Kilimanjaro Mama with the founding of the TirNanOg Orphanage in 2007.

Ms. Quill will be in attendance today.

“Jill & Giles” screens as well in a short-form story of an English couple that has invested 20 years living and working on a boat on the River Shannon in Ireland.

Also at the Gallery Theatre, “Gaza” gets its Midwest premier at 3 p.m. followed by a reception. Set in a community in the Gaza strip, the film makers needed four years to capture the plight of people whose lives are shaped by conflict, but not defined by it.

At the Wilmette Theatre, "Seamus Heaney: The Music of What Happens" retraces the Irish poet's life and writings deeply rooted in his own history and places of his earliest rearing.

For complete festival information and to order tickets, please visit: www.chicagoirishfilmfestival.com