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.
The Stub 
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!
Thanks Alan! 🙂
*cough* O’Neill *cough8
Oops! Sorry bout that…*edits
no worries 🙂
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 😦
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…………..
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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!
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.
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 🙂
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.
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
Thanks! that’s great, I’m glad Tomato Soup won an award too, it’s such a sweet little animation
Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival Announces Continued Corona Sponsorship
The Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival is delighted to announce the continued sponsorship of the Festival by Barry and Fitzwilliam, who import the worlds biggest selling Mexican Beer, Corona. The Festival will run from Thursday the 27th May 2010 for four days. Maurice Seezer, Film Composer and Chairman of the Festival Committee announced the sponsorship this week saying, “Securing Corona as our title sponsor was a tremendous boost to us last year and has proven to be a very successful partnership. It has enabled us to expand on last years successful event and to enhance the Mexican connection further by introducing a selection of Mexican Shorts donated by IMCINE, The Mexican Film Institute. The collection includes a selection of short films from 2009 and one filmed to celebrate the centennial of Mexican Independence. ’We’ve just presented them in Clermont Ferrand Film Festival and it was great, we hope you like them’, said Pablo Briesno, Head of International Sales at IMCINE.
This year’s festival will offer film lovers an exciting and packed programme to include screenings at various venues around Schull, (including the 100 seater mobile cinema), workshops for film makers of all ages with a special focus on screenwriting and script to screen, interviews with various famous national and international film personnel and many more fringe events.
A special prize of €2,500 for the best young filmmaker aged 22 years or younger will be awarded. The Best of Festival Award is open to all filmmakers over 18 years of age and also carries a prize of €2,500, plus additional cash prizes of €250 for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Documentary, Best Animation, Best Original Music, Best Cinematography and Best Experimental/ Dance.
Some of our contributors will be, world renowned Irish Novelist Patrick McCabe, (his books include The Butcher Boy and Breakfast on Pluto, both shortlisted for the Booker Prize and adapted for filmed by Neil Jordan), Author, Director and Patron of the Festival, Gerard Stembridge, Jack Gold, who famously filmed the feature film Catholics in and around Baltimore and Cape Clear in 1973. BAFTA nominee, Chris O’Dell, Cinematographer of the ever popular Morse and Lewis series, Irish Director, Ian Power will also contribute, showing a selection of his short films and exclusive clips from his upcoming feature film The Runway, recently shot in West Cork, and Producer of The Runway, Macdarra Kelleher. We await final confirmation from other giants of Irish Film….
The Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival is an independent festival, dedicated to bringing together established and first-time filmmakers to celebrate the short film. The element of competition is not paramount and while the prizes are significant, the screening of as many as possible of the entrant’s films in a public arena is far more important. Participants will have the opportunity to meet established film makers and take part in workshops as well as viewing the work of established filmmakers.
This year’s festival promises to be bigger and even better than last years. Keep an eye on our website for further information and announcements: http://www.fastnetshortfilmfestival.com
Or contact Hilary McCarthy on 085 1588 309
Photo includes Top: Helen Wells Festival Committee Vice Chair, Maurice Seezer Committee Chairman, Pauline Cotter Festival Coordinator.