Irish Film Talent to Watch Out For
Irish short films have had a very successful year with many winning prestigious awards and screening at renowned international film festivals. Some of the highlights of 2008 and the teams behind which to watch out for in the future include Frankie, New Boy, Granny O'Grimms Sleeping Beauty and The Wednesdays. Short films are a vital platform and training opportunity for new talent.Darren Thornton's short film FRANKIE scooped the European Film Academy Award for Best Short Film and the UIP Prix Award for Best Short Film at the Berlinale Film Festival. Produced by Collette Farrell for Calipo Picture Company, FRANKIE follows a day in the life of Frankie, a 15 year old boy who is preparing for fatherhood. Ryan Andrews, who plays Frankie received a Special Jury Award at the Austen Film Festival during the year for his performance.
NEW BOY, directed by Steph Green has picked up over 20 international awards including Best Narrative Short at the Tribeca Film Festival (USA), Best Short Film at the Rhode Island Film Festival (USA) and a Special Mention at the Generation Kplus Competition at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year.
Produced by Tamara Anghie for Zanzibar Films, NEW BOY is based on a short story by Roddy Doyle and deftly captures the experience of being the new boy in school through the eyes of Joseph, a nine-year-old African boy.
Both NEW BOY and FRANKIE were produced as part of the Short Cuts scheme which is co-funded by IFB and RTE.
The animated short GRANNY O'GRIMMS SLEEPING BEAUTY directed by Nicky Phelan picked up the Audience Award (runner up) for Best Animated Short at the Palm Springs International Film Festival after it scooped the Best Irish Animated Short at the Galway Film Fleadh. It was produced by Darragh O'Connell with Brown Bag Films as part of the Frameworks scheme which is co-funded by the IFB, the Arts Council and RTÉ.
THE WEDNESDAYS, the short film directed by Conor Ferguson had a great year picking up audience awards at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand and Chicago Film Festivals and screening at festivals in Prague, Leeds, Madrid, London, Foyle and Lille.
The short film tells the funny, poignant tale of an elderly couple who rediscover love and adventure with the help of some ecstasy tablets. It recently won the Prix d'Honneur at Beauvais International Film Festival, the Olympus Prize for Best Photography at the International Film Festival of Badalona in Barcelona and was a finalist in the TCM Classic Shorts Competition. THE WEDNESDAYS was produced by Park Films and was funded by the Irish Film Board, the Galway Film Centre and RTE.
A number of Irish short films also screened with feature films throughout the year included THE SOUND OF PEOPLE, written and directed by Simon Fitzmaurice which was released in Irish cinemas with Charlie Bartlett, ATLANTIC, directed by Conor Ferguson which was released with 32A and WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON written and directed by Declan Cassidy which was released with Kisses.
Following a major review in 2007, the IFB introduced a new range of short films schemes: Signatures, Reality Bites and Virtual Cinema. The first round of these schemes were premiered this year.
Signatures, the new IFB flagship scheme and Reality Bites, the new documentary short scheme both screened at the Cork Film Festival in October to great reviews, while the Virtual Cinema shorts (for digital platforms) screened at the Darklight Film Festival in June. The Virtual Cinema shorts have attracted an audience of over 46,000 viewers on You Tube since, with THE PERILS OF INTERNET DATING receiving over 19,000 hits alone.
2009 is set to be another successful year with Irish shorts already lined up for some of the most prestigious international festivals. A Film From My Parish - 6 Farms, directed and written by Tony Donoghue has been selected to screen at the renowned Sundance Film Festival in January, while The Man in 301 has been accepted for screening during the upcoming Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival at the end of January as part of their Musical Retrospective.