Screenings and Events at the Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Festival
Bord Scannán na hEireann/ the Irish Film Board (IFB) are delighted to be sponsoring the Best Irish Short Film award again at the Stranger Than Fiction documentary film festival which takes place this weekend (18th - 21st June) in the IFI.The short programme which screens on Sunday June 21st at 12.00 features a selection of short documentaries from across Ireland, interspersed with a selection of international films covering a wide range of subject matters in a variety of styles. Two Irish shorts to screen are A FILM FROM MY PARISH directed by Tony Donoghue and VISITING DAY directed by Ciaran Deeney.
All the shorts are in competition and will be judged by a jury comprising of filmmakers and documentary experts including Lenny Abrahamson (Director, Garage), David Rane (Director of Guth Gafa Documentary Festival), Boris Despodov (Director, Corridor No. 8), Micheal O Meallaigh (Head of Commissioning, TG4), Alan Maher (IFB) and Bob Quinn (Director, Poitin).
This will be the second year that the IFB has sponsored the award. Along with a €500 prize, the winning short will be included in the IFB's Irish Talent on Film DVD later this year which is distributed at film events and film festivals around the world.
Of the Irish and international feature documentaries screening this weekend, the Irish documentary THE LIBERTIES directed by Tom Burke and Shane Hogan will premiere at the festival. The documentary which is a celebration of the Liberties area of Dublin, comprises of 12 beautifully crafted short films, each focusing on a different microcosm within the community. It will screen with CLUBS ARE TRUMPS a film which has been preserved at the Irish Film Archive that shows a youth club in the Liberties in the 1950's.
Both will screen on Sunday 21st June at 14.15 and will be followed by a Q&A with Tom Burke and Shane Hogan.
Along with the film screenings, Stranger Than Fiction has put in place three panel discussions.
Screen Producers Ireland will hold an information event on Friday June 19th at 2pm which will be followed by a BCI presentation of the Sound & Vision Broadcasting Funding Scheme at 4pm. Stephanie Comey, the Scheme Director will cover the scheme's ambitions and achievements which will be followed by a Q&A session.
On Saturday June 20th at 2pm, there will be a panel discussion Documentary, Change and the Community which will explore the opportunities, issues and challenges facing those working at the intersection between documentary and community.
All the panels will take place in the Meeting Room of the IFI and are free but booking is essential.
The Stranger than Fiction Documentary Film Festival will take place Thursday 18th June to Sunday 21st June in the Irish Film Institute, Temple Bar, Dublin.
For more information on the films screening and the panel discussions see the Stranger Than Fiction website.