NEW IRISH TALENT: Short Film “Undressing my Mother” selected for the International Critics Week at Cannes Film Festival 2005
The Irish short film UNDRESSING MY MOTHER, directed by up and coming director Ken Wardrop, has been selected to screen as part of the prestigious Semaine Internationale de a Critique (International Critics Week) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which runs from the 10th -22nd May.International Critics Week is the oldest sidebar event at the Cannes Film Festival and is dedicated to discovering new talent. Many famous directors have been discovered by the Critics’ Week including Bernardo Bertolucci, Barbet Schroeder, Ken Loach, Wong Kar Waï, Jacques Audiard, Arnaud Desplechin and François Ozon.
UNDRESSING MY MOTHER is a poignant short documentary film in which a filmmaker explores his mother’s unique take on her overweight and aging body.
Produced by Andrew Freedman, Wardrop’s film has already picked up a host of awards including Best Short Film at the Irish Film & Television Awards 2004, Best Documentary at the Tempere Film Festival 2005 and the Jameson Best Irish film award at the Cork Film Festival.
"Both Andrew and I are delighted with the positive receptions our short films are receiving at festivals internationally”, said director of the film Ken Wardrop. “It is an exciting opportunity to us as we venture from the student film world into the industry. Our screening at Cannes will hopefully help to launch our production company, Venom, both nationally and internationally",
“The Irish Film Board is delighted to provide funding for UNDRESSING MY MOTHER. This short film is an example of the high standard of new Irish talent emerging in the Irish film industry” said Brendan McCarthy, Head of Production & Development at the Irish film Board. “Ken is a very talented director and we look forward to working with Venon Film in the future.”
Ken Wardrop has recently completed his studies at the National Film School, IADT-DL, specialising in directing documentary film. He also scooped the O2 Student Film of the Year Prize for the last two consecutive years. His films include the award winning shorts Dampened Spirits, Love is Like a Butterfly and Useless Dog.
Useless Dog is the only Irish film selected for official international competition at the prestigious 51st International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (5-10 May 2005, Germany), which is the world’s longest standing international short film competition. It has also been selected for the 52nd Sydney International Film Festival.
UNDRESSING MY MOTHER was produced by Venom Film as a graduate film with the National Film School - IADT and received completion funding from Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board. Venom Film was co-founded by Ken Wardrop and Andrew Freedman and they currently have a number of projects in development.