The 12th Irish American Movie Hooley Returns to The Wilmette Theatre

Setting up for three days of cultural celebration, storytelling panache, and smaller treasures of cinema, the 12th Irish American Movie Hooley returns to the Chicagoland area from September 25–27. Presented by Mike Houlihan, the founder of Hibernian Media NFP, the Movie Hooley will convene at the Wilmette Theatre in Wilmette, Illinois. This year’s event marks the fifth anniversary of Irish American Movie Hooley’s partnership with this historic venue. Both Jay Rohr and Don Shanahan of Film Obsessive have clinched glasses with local attendees and covered this fine mini festival in the past.

Tickets to the films are only $20 and can be purchased at the theatre. Sunday’s tickets include both films. The Wilmette Theatre is located at 1122 Central Ave in Wilmette, IL, with plenty of parking in the area. There will be plenty of popcorn, snacks, and a variety of drinks available for purchase.

The 12th Irish American Movie Hooley film festival will kick off Friday night, September 25th at 8 PM with Frank Shouldice’s classic 2025 Irish documentary Once We Were Punks. That nonfiction film follows four school friends from 1980s Bailieborough, County Cavan, who form a punk band called The Panic Merchants, drift apart for 25 years due to adulthood and emigration, and then reunite in middle age to pick up where they left off. Director Frank Shouldice will be joining visitors that night to meet the audience and discuss his film. Frank previously screened his classic film, The Man Who Wanted to Fly, as the marquee opening feature at the 5th Annual Irish American Movie Hooley.

On Saturday night, September 26th, the 12th Irish American Movie Hooley will be screening Dreaming The Quiet Man, directed by Se Merry Doyle. The film is his homage to legendary Irish film director John Ford and his unforgettable classic John Wayne-led film, The Quiet Man from 1952. With this event, Hibernian Media joins the 75th Anniversary of this film as we remember the start of filming on location in Ireland that spanned 1951. Dreaming The Quiet Man explores Ford’s 20-year personal quest to bring his passionate epic storyline to his ancestral homeland and features insights from filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, leading lady Maureen O’Hara, and fellow Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan. Personally chosen to represent director Se Merry Doyle for the event and joining viewers for this screening will be Brian Downes, the Executive Director of the John Wayne Birthplace and Museum in Winterset, Iowa.

Finally, on Sunday the 27th, the Movie Hooley focuses on Irish American filmmaking, breaking with tradition to screen our first short film: Belief, by Irish American actor/filmmaker Colin Flynn. That short film presentation will be followed by screening the celebrated indie film Ghostwriter, written by Chicago-based Irish American James Lynch and directed by Tim Miller. Ghostwriter features a brilliant local cast including the late, great Mary Ann Thebus in a heartbreaking performance. Colin Flynn, Tim Miller, and James Lynch will all be in person at the 12th Irish American Movie Hooley for Sunday’s screenings and post-screening discussions.

ABOUT THE IRISH AMERICAN MOVIE HOOLEY FILM FESTIVAL

The 12th Irish American Movie Hooley is sponsored by Hibernian Media’s Irish American Labor Alliance, including Local 130 Plumbers Union led by President and Business Manager Jim Coyne, the Mid-America Carpenter’s Regional Council led by Kevin McLaughlin, and Iron Workers Local 1 led by President and Business Manager John Gardiner. The Movie Hooley is also thankful for support from the Irish Film Institute. Hibernian Media NFP is a not-for-profit public charity dedicated to Irish and Irish American culture, and all donations are tax-deductible.