A Record Eleven Irish Shorts Selected for Palm Springs Shortfest in U.S
An impressive eleven Irish short films have been officially selected for the Palm Springs International Shortfest which takes place in California from 22nd-28th June.
Included in the programme line-up are Bye, Bye Now, Dental Breakdown, Hasan Everywhere, Moore Street Masala, Please Say Something, Return to Roscoff and The Trembling Veil of Bones, all of which received funding from the IFB.
Bye, Bye Now, which was co-directed and co-produced by Ross Whittaker and Aideen O'Sullivan, is a touching documentary exploring the proposal to remove a number of phoneboxes from around the country, evoking fond memories in the lives of rural Irish communities. Produced by True Films through the Reality Bites scheme, it has previously won the Audience Award at both the Corona Cork Film Festival and at the IFI Stranger Than Fiction festival and has screened at several international festivals in Athens, Vancouver and Krakow.
The musical comedy, Dental Breakdown, directed by Ian Power, is about five reluctant student dentists whose eyes are opened to the cruel consolations of their career by a sadistic tutor. Produced by Fiona Kinsella for Rocket Productions with funding from the Short Shorts scheme, it has previously been selected for festivals including Foyle, Chicago and Worldfest Huston since its première at last year's Galway Film Fleadh.
The short animated film Hasan Everywhere, written and directed by Andrew Kavanagh, tells the story of an Israeli novelist who strikes up a friendship with a Palestinian artist when they meet by chance in New York, a friendship which would not have been possible at home. This haunting film was produced by Ciara Gillen for Kavaleer Productions through the Frameworks scheme. It has screened at Brooklyn Film Festival, U.S and Cartoons in the Bay, Italy and scooped two Digital Media awards earlier this year.
David O'Sullivan's Moore Street Masala, is a short love story about shop clerk Baba who falls for the sexy estate agent across the street, leading to a Bollywood dance finale in the streets of Dublin. This colourful musical was produced by Miriam Cahill for Fish Films and was nominated for Best Short Film at the IFTA's this year. It was also funded through the Short Shorts scheme.
Please Say Something, directed by David O'Reilly, is an original tale about an adverse relationship between a cat and mouse set in the distant future. The animated film won the Golden Bear award at Berlin Film Festival last year, and received print provision funding from the IFB.
Ken Wardrop's Return to Roscoff returns to themes of family and belonging in his story of a woman's attempt to bring closure to a relationship. The short film was an Irish/French co-production produced by Andrew Freedman for Venom Films (Ireland) and Requiem Films (France) which came about as a result of the Euro Connection Forum at the Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival in France last year.
The Trembling Veil of Bones, which was written, directed and animated by Matthew Talbot- Kelly, is the story of an anachronistic clockmaker whose stagnant life is thrown into disarray when a centaur postman robot delivers a package from an unforgotten love of thirty years ago. The animation was produced by Glimpse Digital (Ireland) in co-production with the Canadian National Film Board with finance from the IFB.
Other Irish short films set to screen at the festival include Cold Turkey, written and directed by Gavin Keane, Noreen, written and directed by Domhnall Gleeson, Passing, written and directed by David Freyne and The Pool, directed by Thomas Hefferon and co-written by Thomas Hefferon and T.J Hundtofte.
Now in its 16th year, the Palm Springs International ShortFest showcases over 300 short films from more than 40 countries, with a library of more than 2,700 films available to film buyers, industry and press in its concurrent Short Film Market. Festival events include nightly receptions, seminars, master classes, and scheduled one-on-one meetings with industry experts and filmmaking professional.
The Short Shorts scheme and the Reality Bites scheme is funded by the IFB while the Frameworks scheme is funded by the IFB, RTÉ and the Arts Council.
Palm Springs International Shortfest will take place this month in California from 22nd 228th June. For further details see http://www.psfilmfest.org/