On Friday evening, the 5th day of the 6th annual British & Irish Film Season in Luxembourg saw the screening of the Irish-language western, An Klondike.

Following the success laast year with the Irish-language An Bronntanas (The Gift), An Klondike travelled to Luxembourg for its first screening outside Ireland. Director Dathai Keane had travelled over for the occasion and particiated in an interestign post-screening Q&A session.

An Klondike tells the story of three brothers from Co Galway who find themselves in America in the late 1800s. Originally in Montana, they travel north to the Yukon River region in Canada where they plan to mine a small claim for gold.

The different characters and personalities of the three brothers shine through, even before they arrive in Dominion, where the eldest tries valiantly to guide the youngest and stop him getting into trouble - even though he sets his sights on success, he is naive in the cutthroat envirnoment and repeatedly gets into trouble, sometimes serious trouble. Meanwhile, the middle brother is guided by his faith and helps the local pastor and his small hospital. Many other characters feature too, from saloon owners and singers, to money men and ruffians, as well as native Americans.

Dathai Keane informed the audience and recalled how his idea became reality, firstly fleshing out the idea and then atrracting the €1.5 million funding together from various sources. The Glengowla Mines in Connemara had been transformed into the film set, with the mines, open countryside including forest, and also the town all being based there - it is now a tourist attraction. He also explained the background to the story and how he based many characters in the story on other real-life characters in different (historical) settings.

Both before and after the screening, Dathai keane was engaged in (Irish) conversation with members of Luxembourg's Cumann Gaelach. A wonderful evening and a first for Luxembourg!