The GalwayFilm Fleadh will pay special tribute to octogenarian Irish star Maureen O'Haraafter opening on July 6 with Ken Loach's Ae Fond Kiss.

One of thefirst Irish actors to achieve star status in Hollywood, Maureen O'Hara will bethe subject of this year's public interview prior to a screening of John Ford'sThe Quiet Man (1952). The Fleadh will also screen The Hunchback ofNotre Dame (1939) and Spencer's Mountain (1962). In acknowledgementof her iconic status Galway City Council will host a civic reception for O'Haraon July 11, the closing day of the Fleadh.

Among theother events hosted by the Fleadh will be a scriptwriting masterclass withregular Loach collaborator Paul Laverty, a discussion on set decoration withIrish Oscar winner Josie McAvin (Out Of Africa), an acting masterclasswith John Lynch and a directing masterclass with Stanley Tucci.

While theFleadh has yet to announce which new Irish films will be screened this year,there will be a 'First Wave' programme of Irish films, largely from the periodin the late 1970s and early 1980s, by directors such as Bob Quinn, JoeComerford, Pat Murphy and Thaddeus O'Sullivan who were often also the producersof of their own work.

A broadspectrum of world cinema will be screened over the six-day festival. Europeantitles include Iciar Bollain's Take My Eyes (Spain), Per Fly's Inheritance(Denmark), Annette K. Olesen's In Your Hands (Sweden), CatherineBreillat's Anatomy Of Hell (France), and Fatih Akin's Head On(Germany).

A showcaseof low-budget British films organised in association with the British Councilincludes May Miles Thomas's Solid Air, Alison Peebles's Afterlife,Tony Fisher's The Trouble With Men And Women, and Richard Hawkin's Everything,staring Ray Winstone. Juxtaposed with these films are such classics of Britishcinema as Brighton Rock, Gaslight, The Loneliness Of The LongDistance Runner, Great Expectations and A Man For All Seasons.

TheFleadh's other regional focus will be on Latin America with films fromArgentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Chile.

The FleadhFair, a film industry event that runs in parallel to the screenings, will forthe first time run a one-day seminar on film financing - 'The Real Deal' - withsupport from the MEDIA Programme and the Irish Film Board.

Organised in four sessions, 'The Real Deal' will examine theimplications of 'soft money' funding within film financing structures; therealities of dealing with hard money sources of finance; the present positionof broadcasters on feature film financing; and the marketing and distributionof Irish films at home and abroad.