Ten short films from emerging Irish filmmakers selected for Screen Ireland’s Focus Shorts 2024
Posted: 26th September 2024
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is delighted to announce the 10 successful projects for the 2024 round of Focus Shorts, Screen Ireland’s flagship short film scheme. Ten teams of emerging directors, screenwriters and producers have been awarded €70,000 per project to produce a short film.
Focus Shorts is a short film production scheme that highlights strong and original storytelling, visual flair, and production values appropriate to the big screen.
Emma Scott, Head of Distribution & Short Film Production at Screen Ireland, said:
“Our huge congratulations to the ten successful teams selected for the 2024 edition of Focus Shorts – and our many thanks to everyone who applied.
The scheme has always attracted an impressively high standard of applicants, but this year’s process has been particularly competitive, making the final selection very challenging. The ten final projects showcase a wide range of talent, genre and style – with diversity and eclecticism evident both in front of and behind the camera. We can’t wait for audiences to connect with these projects at Irish film festivals and beyond next year.”
The ten successful Focus Shorts projects for 2024 are:
His House, Home
Written by Philip Emo, directed by Aisling O’Regan Sargent, and produced by Killian Casey and Philip Emo.
Luke, a closeted young man, cares for his father who has MS. When a vibrant healthcare assistant arrives, he must confront his fears of coming out.
Punt
Written and directed by Nicky Larkin, produced by Alanna Riddell Bond.
A heartbroken woman's plan to kill herself is interrupted when the electricity runs out. She embarks upon a grim mission to find a pound coin to finish the job.
Mouse
Written by Alan O’Gorman and Rosie Barrett, directed by Rosie Barrett, and produced by Aisling Malone and Lorraine Higgins.
A headstrong single mother, struggling in her relationship with her teenage daughter, gets caught in a game of cat-and-mouse with some local teenagers.
Forget Me Not
Written and produced by Joshua Donoghue, and directed by Ethan Donoghue.
After a sudden loss, a young couple develop an unlikely friendship with a lonely kid and his horse “WildJill”.
Minding
Written by Shannon Welby, directed by Emily Foran, and produced by Grace Odumosu.
In the countryside, a mother drops her college student daughter, now finished up her weekend job at home, to the bus heading to the city - and to life without her.
Bad Person
Written by Eva O’Connor, directed by Hildegard Ryan, and produced by Tara Doolan.
Cait's always heard she's a bad drunk. When she kisses her best friend's elderly dad at her wedding, it dawns on her that she may in fact be a bad person.
Magic Markers
Written and directed by Jason Branagan, and produced by Emer Durcan.
When a young boy comes across magic markers which turn his drawings into real life, he draws himself a big brother to help him stand up to some school bullies.
A Song
Written by Shaun Dunne, directed by Ellius Grace, and produced by Louise Byrne.
Music teacher Noel is reunited briefly with his estranged mother during a local trad session. He must navigate his complicated past alongside his newfound connection with visiting singer James.
That’s So Feis
Written by Ali Hardiman, directed by Eileen Tracey and produced by Eliza Fitzgibbon.
When Gemma's picture perfect life is thrown into chaos, she is forced to look inward and figure out her next steps... by slipping into her dancing shoes.
Starlets
Written and directed by Aisha Bolaji, and produced by Keeva Bolger.
As the world is being consumed by floods, sixteen year old Noelle prepares for her audition on The Ark cruise ship under the wing of her overbearing stage mother.
About Focus Shorts
Focus Shorts is Screen Ireland’s short film scheme for the making of live-action, fiction films that act as a proving-ground for Irish creative talents aspiring to write, direct and produce films for the cinema. It offers an opportunity for producers, directors and writers to work in a professional environment that will bring their experience up to a higher level and can be seen as a stepping stone for more ambitious projects.
Since its establishment, short films produced under the scheme have seen international success at the Tribeca Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival and the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. The most recent slate of Focus Shorts are fresh from their World Premiere at this year's Galway Film Fleadh, with Aisling Byrne’s Turnaround taking home the Tiernan McBride Award for Best Short Drama.
Short films from previous rounds can be watched on Screen Ireland’s Shorts Player.