Although Irish blood doesn’t run in her family, Mara Bernstein said a college trip to Ireland sparked a love for the culture.
Bernstein, who works for the IU Foundation, has launched the Small Island Big Stories: Irish Film Festival. The festival, which will be Saturday at the IU Cinema, features two Irish films with Irish Gaelic dialogue and English subtitles.
As a way to celebrate Irish-American Heritage Month, Bernstein said she chose films with Irish Gaelic dialogue to educate viewers on the language.
“We’re really just letting people know that the Irish language exists, that it is alive and well and there are some great things happening,” she said.
The two films chosen for the festival include “Song of the Sea” and “An Bronntanas,” both from 2014.
“Song of the Sea,” which is also part of the cinema’s CINEKids series, is an animated feature based on the legend of the Selkies, an Irish myth of a creature resembling a seal in water and human on land.
“An Bronntanas” is a live-action feature following a lifeboat crew as it faces an ethical dilemma when it finds an abandoned boat filled with valuable drugs.
Both films were chosen to highlight how Irish people view their relationship with the sea, Bernstein said.
“The sea can be very kind, but also very cruel,” she said. “In the two films, one is a little more fun, and one is a little more realistic and mature.”
In 2003, Bernstein spent a summer in Ireland to study archaeology. She said she chose Ireland because she didn’t want to worry about another language, but soon learned about the Irish language as she switched her study to anthropology.
Years after her first trip to Ireland, Bernstein said she still can’t pinpoint what made her fall in love with the culture. However, she said the welcoming, resilient people and the scenic view are two of her favorite aspects.
“Whether or not you’re thinking of the cliffs overlooking the ocean, or those green fields with the rock walls, and many other kinds of environments in Ireland, the whole place is just beautiful,” she said.
After moving to Bloomington in 2007 to pursue a master’s degree in anthropology, Bernstein said she quickly became connected with fellow Irish advocates in the community.
Since meeting locals such as Devin Blankenship, member of the Bloomington Irish Language Group, and Matt O’Neill, owner of the Runcible Spoon, Bernstein said she participates in groups like the Indiana Celtic Community and the Irish-American Community at IU.
As a result of Bernstein’s affiliation with so many groups, the festival is sponsored by a range of groups, including the Runcible Spoon and the departments of Anthropology and Folklore and Ethnomusicology.
With a large support system as her sponsors, Bernstein said she hopes to see the Small Island Big Stories: Irish Film Festival become an annual event.
However, due to the IU Cinema’s full schedule as an attempt to be inclusive of the entire community, she said she will likely have to work on future festivals with or without the Cinema as host.
Regardless of venue, Bernstein said she plans to spend each March educating the Bloomington community on the rich variety of Irish culture.
“I think it’s important to remind people that groups of people are not just the few things that get sold on the holiday that America chooses to recognize them,” she said. “There is more to Irish culture and heritage and history than St. Patrick’s Day.”
