Celtic Film Festival reveals Celtic culture in many guises

Ireland and Scotland, of course, but also Britain and even parts of France: The Celts spread their language and culture far afield in Europe. A film festival by the Madison Celtic Cultural Center, sponsored by the Department of History, will display the faces of Celtic culture on Sunday, Feb. 15.

• “When the Whales Came” (Cornwall, 1989), 9 a.m. Starring Helen Mirren and Paul Scofield, this poignant tale reveals the secret that haunts the reclusive Birdman when a pod of narwhales is beached on the island of Bryher.
• “If These Walls Could Speak: Mural Painting in Belfast” (Northern Ireland, 2001), 11 a.m. A documentary about luminous wall-sized murals in Belfast.
• “Hard Road to Klondike” (Ireland, 1999), 11:45 a.m. The autobiographical account of Michael MacGowan’s quest for good fortune.
• “Everlasting Piece” (Northern Ireland, 2001), 1:30 p.m. A Protestant and a Catholic barber form a partnership to sell toupees in Belfast, which puts them in proximity to an imprisoned murderer.
• “Sex in a Cold Climate” (Ireland, 1998), 3:30 p.m. A documentary about the residents of Ireland’s Magdalene laundries, the last of which closed in the mid-1990s.
• “My Name Is Joe” (Scotland, 1999), 5 p.m. Joe (Peter Mullan), a recovering alcoholic, tries to regain control of his life in working-class Glasgow.
• “Mr. Hulot’s Holiday,” (Brittany, 1953), 7 p.m. A vacation by the seaside with Jacques Tati’s besieged Mr. Hulot.

All films will be screened in 1651 Mosse Humanities Building. Viewers are invited to drop in and out, but will not be admitted to a particular film once the theater doors have closed. Information: 246-4198.