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Fake press pass in hand, O'Mochain crashed the 1998 Venice Film Festival and videotaped interviews with Kenneth Branagh, George Clooney, and Melanie Griffith, among others, trying to persuade them to make a trip to Ireland to participate in his project. The star appearances are a gimmick, O'Mochain concedes, but one he hopes will convince audiences to give his film a chance. Festival curator and University of Massachusetts film professor Peter Flynn agrees. He hopes the festival will get beyond dated cliches and focus attention on what he calls the New Irish Cinema. Last year, it stretched over two weekends and combined forces with a Gaelic roots program at Boston College.