Irish Short Bye, Bye Now Selected for Competition at the Krakow Film Festival in Poland
Bye, Bye Now, the short documentary co-directed by Ross Whitaker and Aideen O'Sullivan, has been selected to compete in the International Short Competition at the 50th Krakow Film Festival in Poland next month.
Bye, Bye Now follows the proposed removal of a number of phoneboxes from around the country which sparked many fond memories in the lives of the rural Irish communities. The short documentary contains interviews and footage remembering how the phonebox has gone from the centre of Irish life to the verge of extinction. Whitaker previously directed the critically acclaimed feature documentary Saviours.
The film was also co-produced by Whitaker and O'Sullivan for True Films and was financed through Reality Bites, the IFB short documentary scheme. It premiered at last year's Corona Cork Film Festival, where it picked up the Audience Award for Best Irish Short Film. It is also set to screen at Athens International Film Festival this month and at Vancouver Film Festival in May.
Also selected for screening at the Krakow Film Festival is Darren Thornton's award winning short Frankie. Screening in the Short Matters strand of the festival, the film tells the story of a fifteen year old boy who is preparing for fatherhood. He is determined he's going to be the best dad ever, but as his day goes on, he starts to realise how impossible this will be for him.
It has picked up a host of awards on the international festival circuit including the UIP Prix Award for Best Short Film at Berlinale Film Festival, Audience Award at Los Angeles Film Festival, Best Short Film at the European Film Awards and Special Jury Award for Ryan Andrews role as Frankie at Austen Film Festival.
The film was produced by Collette Farrell for Calipo Picture Company through the Short Cuts film scheme which was funded by the IFB and RTÉ.
Krakow Film Festival is one of the oldest film event dedicated to documentary, animated and short fiction films in Europe. The festival is accompanied by exhibitions, concerts, open air screenings and meetings with the filmmakers. Every year the Krakow Film Festival hosts about 500 Polish and international guests: directors, producers, film festival programmers and numerous audiences from Krakow.
The 50th Krakow Film Festival in Poland which takes place from 31st May to 6th June.