Browse our 2010 Film Guide

Summer of the Flying Saucer

Martin Duffy / Ireland / 2008 / 84 min

It’s the summer of 1967. While the rest of the world dances to the beat of Hendrix, Joplin and the Beatles, fifteen-year-old Dan Mullaney is stuck on a farm in rural Ireland. His dream of furthering his education is hindered by his father, who believes it is Dan’s duty to take over the farm. Life becomes slightly more interesting when he befriends two visitors, whose exotic, unusual appearance singles them out as decidedly foreign. Dan stumbles onto their unbelievable secret: they are aliens who have crash-landed on Earth and are desperate to fix their flying saucer in order to leave before it is discovered. However, Dan discovers that getting two aliens to blend into this conservative village is easier said than done. He soon realizes that the only way to explain their unusual look and clothing to the close-minded villagers is to pass them off as hippies. But, no matter how hard Dan drills the aliens in basic Irish social skills, getting the prejudiced villagers to tolerate their presence is risky business. This imaginative comedy explores the importance of peace, love and understanding.

Martin Duffy is an award-winning Irish filmmaker and writer living in Berlin. His writings include many magazine and newspaper articles, plays for television and radio, three novels for young people, and a book about his parents. Two of Duffy's previous films include The Bumblebee Flies Away (1999) and The testimony of Taliesin Jones (2000).

• Calendar
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•