JDIFF CLOSES WITH WORLD PREMIERE OF THE HALO EFFECT
The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival (JDIFF) closed on Sunday night with the world premiere of Lance Daly’s THE HALO EFFECT. THE HALO EFFECT, which was produced by Fastnet Films and stars Stephen Rea, is Daly’s second feature and was funded under the Irish Film Board’s low budget initiative.Other events which took place over the festival include the Low Budget Initiative seminar which attracted a large audience. The panel included the creative teams behind TIMBUKTU, DEAD MEAT and THE HALO EFFECT, all of which were funded under the low budget initiative, sat on the panel with Brendan McCarthy (BSÉ/IFB). All aspects of the initiative, including deferrals, Union agreements, creative and production approaches, and distribution were discussed. Contributors from the floor included Jane Doolan from Xtravision, who commented that the low budget feature scheme provided a real opportunity for producers to take advantage of a local distributor purchasing video rights and investing in Irish product.
In addition, during the festival, a small drinks event was held for the teams behind the seven BSE/IFB co-financed films selected by JDIFF (TIMBUKTU, BLOOM, COWBOYS AND ANGELS, HEADRUSH, THE HONEYMOONERS, BLIND FLIGHT and THE HALO EFFECT) with co-financiers, TV networks, sales agents and theatrical distributors as part of BSE/IFB’s ongoing efforts to strengthen ties between filmmakers and end-users.
Finally, the Stephen Gaydos event was also very well attended. Gaydos, who is the Executive Editor for the trade magazine VARIETY, stressed the importance of inspiring investor confidence in European cinema. Contributing factors which maintain this confidence include fostering good relationships between smaller film industries and their governments and maintaining a stable environment for film production.