Archive for May, 2009

Filmbase/RTÉ Short Film Awards Advice from Alan Fitzpatrick

Alan Fitzpatrick, Managing Director of Filmbase, sits on the Filmbase/RTÉ short Film Awards panel, where twice a year 3 short scripts are chosen to receive funding of €10,000 each plus matching facilities from Filmbase. Ahead of the next application deadline of Friday 26th June, Alan gives an overview of the scheme, the application procedure, the process of whittling the applications down to a short list of 10 and some advice should you reach the short list interview stage.

Independent Shorts Screening at Filmbase

At 7 pm on Thursday 4th June, H-House Films are launching a short film directed by Brian Folan.

IFI to Screen UK National Theatre Performance Live

On 25th June at 6.30 pm, Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival and the IFI will be presenting ‘Phèdre’ live via satellite from the UK’s National Theatre as part of NT Live – a new initiative to broadcast live plays onto cinema screens around the world. The new initiative by the UK’s National Theatre will commence with NT director Nicholas Hytner’s production of Phèdre by Jean Racine, in a version by Ted Hughes with Helen Mirren, Margaret Tyzack and Dominic Cooper. ‘Phèdre’ will be broadcast live in high definition to the IFI’s largest cinema screen.

Ken Wardrop Winner of Directors Finders Series 2009

The Screen Directors Guild of Ireland, in association with the Directors Guild of America, announce that the winner of the 5th US Distribution Showcase, the Directors Finders Series 2009 is Ken Wardrop with his feature documentary ‘His and Hers’.

IFI Stranger Than Fiction Doc Festival

The IFI’s Stranger Than Fiction Festival will take place 18–21 June this year. The festival will offers a wide and varied range of documentaries, from getting by in Dublin’s Liberties, making it as a pop star in Afghanistan, a movie about the world’s worst movie to the story of one man swimming 3,375 miles of [...]

Welcome to the New Film Ireland Website

Welcome to the new Film Ireland website. We hope you like it and we hope you will find it useful and entertaining.

The site is currently in Beta test mode and we will be continuing to improve and update it over the coming weeks and months. We’d like your feedback to help us in improving both this website and the print version of the magazine. With that in mind, we’d like to invite you to take part in our reader’s survey. The survey should take no more than a couple of minutes to complete, and your honest feedback would be invaluable to us.

Angels & Demons

A mildly entertaining caper that never quite attains credibility.

Synecdoche, New York

Perhaps ‘Synecdoche, New York’ does not leave the viewer with the answers they would like to have, but, as we learn from watching Caden, perhaps what matters most in life is not the end but journey itself.

Irish Shorts Programme to Screen in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Irish independent film collective Solus will be screening their new programme of shorts and experimental films at this year’s Kratkofil Festival (16–20 June).

Second Galway African Film Festival

Galway’s second annual African Film Festival is taking place on Sunday, May 31st, starting at 11am in the Town Hall Theatre. Organised by the Galway One World Centre in conjunction with the Galway Film Society and the Huston School of Film & Digital Media, all events are free.

Fast & Furious

If you like high-speed car chases, Popeye and Asian chicks making out, you’ll love ‘Fast & Furious’.

Sounds Like Teen Spirit

Bursting with energy, the children themselves carry off this teeny-bopper Eurovision doc.

Northern Irish Short Available on DVD

The first Northern Irish short to screen at Sundance, James, by Connor Clements is now available on DVD. The multi-award-winning short was also one of ten shorts made available as part of an iTunes/Sundance partnership. For further information, please visit www.connorclements.tv/James/Homepage.html Tweet

John McCormack Double-Bill at the IFI

The IFI’s Irish Film Archive is marking the 125th anniversary of one of Ireland’s most celebrated musicians, John McCormack. The lyric tenor was one of the finest of the 20th century and in his prime was undoubtedly an international superstar. The Irish Film Archive will present two films that offer rare cinematic glimpses of McCormack; one an authoritative documentary tracing his life story and the other a 1930 feature and McCormack’s talking picture debut.

Sweded TV Call for Submissions

Sweding is the process of making humorous versions of famous films and Sweded TV is a series of short episodes made by teenagers, each sweding a popular TV show instead of a film. Sweded TV are calling for submissions, so to be in with the chance to make and star in episodes of Sweded TV made with a professional TV crew, apply now.

Audition Advice For Actors From Casting Director Thyrza Ging

Thyrza Ging talks to Film Ireland about her work as a casting director, giving practical advice on what makes a good actor’s headshot, CV and showreel and also what to expect in your first audition.

Shifty: Review

‘Shifty’ is the debut film from British writer/director Eran Creevy and, while it echoes some themes that have come to characterise the Brit-flick, it has a distinctive personality of its own. Completed on a budget of just £100k, it is an impressive debut with quality not compromised, despite the limited funding available. A product of Film London Microwave, in partnership with the BBC, and based on Creevy’s experiences as a teenager, it is another victory for British cinema.

Fast Forward Film Competition

Fast Forward is a filmmaking competition sponsored by A World to Win, which campaigns for an end to corporate power and a new democratic political system. The overall winner will be asked to help A World to Win make a longer film exploring the themes that come out of the competition, with a budget of up to £5,000 available for this.

Noticeboard

If you would like to place a free notice on the noticeboard, please e-mail it to gordon@filmbase.ie.

Irish Short Wins at Hot Docs

Leticia Agudo, Paul McGrath and Aoibheann O’Sullivan, the filmmakers behind the short documentary Forty Foot have returned from the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto with two prizes. The film, made in 5 days as part of the International Documentary Challenge, won ‘Best Film’ – the top award – and was also awarded ‘Best Use [...]