Many of us are looking forward to the Fastnet Short Film Festival this year which is to take place between the 14th and 17th of May. The festival welcomed entries from all levels of filmmaking, giving short filmmakers a new opportunity to see their work on the big screen.
A classic image from 'The Bottle'...
A number of local filmmakers have had their work accepted to the festival, and a few of these projects have been mentioned before on this blog. To start with, (in a rare moment of self-promotion..!), ‘The Bottle‘, co-directed by myself, Fiona Riordan (long time Stub contributor), James Sullivan and Hayret Abdula of Gifted Babies blog fame, is to be screened along with ‘Tom‘, a film by Fiona Riordan, and two other Gifted Babies projects: ‘True Love Leaves No Traces‘ and ‘Trippers Through Time‘ which you can read about here.
Paddy O’ Shea’s ‘Penny‘ and ‘My Ball‘ by Kevin O’ Neill will also be screened as well as the IFB (!) Filmbase funded short ‘Tart‘, directed by Máirtin De Barra.
The official site for the festival, which can be found here, has yet to post it’s full programme of events, but outside of screenings, there will be a number of workshops and classes to attend. Not only that, but every filmmaker who has a film screened will receive a certificate (woo!) while other outstanding films will also receive awards before being screened for a second time on Saturday 16th of May.
April 22, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Sounds like it should be a cracking time, definitely a fest to watch…
And great news on getting your film in there – wll done to you and all your colleagues!
April 23, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Thanks Alan!
April 29, 2009 at 10:47 am
*cough* O’Neill *cough8
April 30, 2009 at 11:36 am
Oops! Sorry bout that…*edits
May 6, 2009 at 11:52 am
no worries
May 13, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Hi Folks, seen the posters in Cork City, checked the website to see list and nothing there! Won’t be going along then. Very poor organisation
May 14, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Interesting that you guys have not permitted a valid comment with regard to not listing the films. I was reconsidering taking a chance and popping down tomorrow but censorship has put me off. Wish you all the best though…………..
May 14, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Hi Dave, what censorship are you talking about?
There’s a pdf doc on the website that you can download, it’s like a brochure for the festival.
May 14, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Actually..did u mean my censoring of comments?! Cause I just didn’t get to check for comments yesterday, I always allow comments unless they’re truly inappropiate.
May 15, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Was in Schull yesterday and caught a few films, and will be there this evening for one of the talks. Contrary to the comment above it all seems fairly well organised. Films showing at the hotel and you just pop in take a seat, relax and enjoy – nice and easy, and i’m guessing the workshops are probably pretty good too.
Considering this is the first time its been run well done to the organisers and it should be a success. Put it this way, it is’nt a bad place to be on an early summer evening and the buzz around the festival is an extra plus!
Good luck with the entries BTW,
all the best,
Mick
May 16, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I agree with Dave, spent all morning on the web trying to find the programme of the festival. The comment “There’s a pdf doc on the website” doesn’t help when you don’t state what website it’s on!
May 17, 2009 at 10:09 pm
To Linda: I was talking about the official site for the Fastnet Film Festival and there is a link to that very site in the above post, which ye just commented on!
For the first year of a festival, it all went quite well from what I could see, but I do understand how annoying it can be not to know the exact times of films, if you’re planning on going down.
May 17, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Btw thanks Mick on the good luck wishes..we didn’t come away with any prizes in the end but twas good fun seeing the shorts on the big screen!
May 19, 2009 at 9:47 am
I think they did a great job and I for one can’t wait to head back next year. Maybe they could have put the times on the website but since every film was screened at least twice there was a good chance you would make one.
When I arrived down on Thursday afternoon I popped in the box office and got the times for Thursday and Friday. Saw what I wanted then.
I’m sure they will improve as they continue but for their first year they did one hell of a job and I applaud them for that.
May 19, 2009 at 11:16 am
I enjoyed the festival greatly. I thought it was well organised but having more precise screening times more clearly available on the Website would have helped. I’m sure this will be addressed for next year.
By the way, my film Tart, is a Filmbase short, not an IFB one! There’s about 70 grand in the difference
May 19, 2009 at 11:30 am
Sorry Mairtin, gee that post isn’t saying much for my research skills is it?!
Well, the film fest seemed to go down well with most people, including myself! I’m still trying to locate a list of winners though..Gonna pop a new post up about the various events that took place too later today.
May 19, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Great Festival, great people, great weekend! Looking forward to next year already! Here are the winners;
Best of Festival – ‘An Cosc’ Directed by Vincent Gallagher
Best Drama – ‘Penny’ by meself!!!!! (Truly delighted!)
Best Cinematography – ‘Tart’ Directed by Mairtin De Barra
Best Use of Music – ‘Of Best Intentions’ Directed by Brian Durnin
Best Comedy – ‘Hammerhead’ Directed by Sam Donovan
Best Director – ‘Play’ by Muriel d’Ansembourg
Best Documentary – The Stolen Generation by Kim Houghton & Pól O Conghaile
Best Animation/Experimental – ‘Tomato Soup’ by Paul O’Brien
May 19, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Thanks! that’s great, I’m glad Tomato Soup won an award too, it’s such a sweet little animation