Strong North American Contingent to Attend Irish Doc Fest Guth Gafa Next Month
Industry experts from Sundance Documentary Fund, Tribeca Film Institute, POV/ American Documentary, Chicken & Egg Pictures and Hot Docs Forum, are hot-footing it to Donegal in June for the 6th Guth Gafa Documentary Festival, where they will also be joined by 9 filmmakers from US and Canada, whose films are screening in the 2011 programme.The 6th Guth Gafa Film Festival promises to be the most exciting and challenging year of all with a rich and varied programme of 30 outstanding international and Irish feature documentaries opening an important window to the world around us.
Alongside the screenings and discussions of this year's impressive and thought-provoking film line-up will be a special programme for film professionals and students, presented in association with The Irish Film Board/ Bord Scannán na hÉireann, on the subject of North American documentary funding and support mechanisms.
The 2011 industry programme will comprise two different sessions on North American documentary funding and support with the panellists Patricia Finneran (Sundance Documentary Fund), Ryan Harrington (Tribeca Film Institute), Cynthia Lopez (POV/ American Documentary and Elizabeth Radshaw (Hot Docs Forum, Canada) representing four key areas of North American documentary funding. Hot Docs Forum are officially partnering with Guth Gafa and they are currently advising Guth Gafa on a new funding initiative that Guth Gafa hope to launch in 2012.
The first session will be on North American Funding of Social Documentaries, and is also supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Here, this year's experts will give a broad introduction and presentation of case studies on the different models of documentary funding support available in North America. The admission for this event is free to industry and students, and no pre-registration is required.
The first panel session will be followed by the event "Meet The Experts" - How do I get North American support for my film? Structured in a multi-stage format, participants will have a unique chance to meet the panellists in small, intimate groups (max. 10). This event is aimed at documentary producers and directors who have made at least one long format creative documentary for either festivals, cinema or TV who are looking to get expert advice in this area. The "Meet The Experts" event is admission free, but pre-registration is required, as places will be limited to 40 participants.
The Guth Gafa North American industry sessions will run on Monday, 13th June from 1.00pm in the Teac an Ceol Cinema in Gortahork (Co. Donegal).
In addition to the North America forum, this year's Guth Gafa Film Festival is proud to welcome Leonard Retel Helmrich and be the host of his famous 2-day masterclass on "Single Shot Cinematography", supported by FÁS/ Screen Training.
This event is a rare and very special opportunity to participate in a practical hands-on workshop with one of the most interesting and innovative documentary makers around today. Leonard has spent years designing his "Single Shot Cinematography" technique and runs now workshops for broadcasters and with filmmakers to share his skills, most recently in Amsterdam, Belgium, Kansas City USA, South Africa, Germany, Indonesia and Sydney Australia. The "Single Shot Cinematography" masterclass at Guth Gafa will take place on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th June in the Óstan Loch Altan hotel. Registration for this event can be made through http://www.screentrainingireland.ie/.
This year's Guth Gafa industry programme will end with an Industry Networking Event & Dinner, supported by Screen Producers Ireland and The Irish Film Board, where invited Irish film makers and professionals will have the opportunity to network with their North American and European colleagues.
For full details on our special industry events, please visit http://www.guthgafa.com/ or call our festival team on 074 91 80730.
Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival is proudly supported by Bord Scannán na hÉireann, RTÉ, The Arts Council, TG4, Screen Producers Ireland, Údarás na Gaeltachta, FÁS/STI, The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Ealaín na Gaeltachta Teoranta, Donegal County Council, Óstán Loch Altan and other industry partners.