The organisers behind a new Fingal-based film festival, which opens with Sean Penn’s new film partially shot in Fingal, have announced that IFTA Award Winner Martin Mc Cann is giving a masterclass for budding actors during the three day festival.
The inaugural Fingal Film Festival’s, which takes place from March 21st to 23rd, is hosting the Gala Opening Screening of ‘This Must Be The Place’, starring Sean Penn and the young Irish actress, Eve Hewson at UCI Cinema Blanchardstown on Wednesday 21st March.
All films will be screened in UCI Cinema Blanchardstown with Masterclasses and Q&A Screenings taking pace at Draíocht at the Blanchardstown Centre.
The Crowne Plaza in Blanchardstown will also host the Festivals Production offices for the week of the festival along with some of the Masterclasses, whilst offering discounted rates for people who need accommodation during the event.
During the three days, the festival will host masterclasses by leading industry names, including BAFTA Winner Aisling Walsh, Writer / Director of ‘Song for A Raggy Boy’, Academy Award winner Arthur Lappin, Film Producer. The festival is also delighted to announce that IFTA Award winner Martin Mc Cann will host the actor’s masterclass. Martin is known for his role as “Bono” in the film “Killing Bono” and also Phaedrus in the 2010 remake of the “Clash of the Titans” and also starring in the new HBO series “The Pacific”
Other industry experts include, Emmy Nominated Joseph Conlon, Film Composer and Sylvia Stevens, Internationally acclaimed Documentary Filmmaker. There will also be another surprise guest giving mastercalsses being announced in the coming weeks.
Offering a platform for filmmaking talent, the festival invited submissions nationally and internationally, and received unprecedented numbers of entries including many international submissions, from countries such as Brazil, Korea, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain and all over Ireland
A shortlist of films will be honoured in an Awards Ceremony, hosted by Comedian Eddie Naessens, which will take place on Friday 23rd March at the Wright Venue in Swords. A number of awards will be presented on the night including ‘Best Documentary’, ‘Best Feature Film’ and ‘Best International Film’, Best Animation Film’, as well as a special award for the ‘Best Newcomer Writer & Director in Fingal’ award. The Awards night will also see “The Young Folk” performing, supported by new emerging Fingal Band “Machine Gun Baby”.
The Managing Director of the festival, Liz Kenny, explains: “The Fingal Film Festival will showcase work produced by gifted filmmakers from across Ireland and internationally. It will also put a spotlight on the burgeoning talents in the Fingal area.
This is an ideal opportunity for anyone interested to learn and enhance their skills through the workshops or by coming simply to see the films that other people are making on the big screen.”
The festivals Creative Director Dave Byrne said this week, the films submitted into the festival for consideration were comedic, heart-warming and thought provoking beautifully directed pieces of work. Selecting the finalists’ films was extremely difficult and not all films made the final selection due to the number of days allocated for the screenings during the festival.
Dave also explains, it is the aim of the organisers to bring on board next year a corporate sponsor, which will enable them to extend the festivals schedule and give more emerging filmmakers the platform to screen their work and also meet with funding bodies and distribution agents.
The Fingal Film Festival opens with the Gala Opening Screening Night of ‘This Must Be the Place’ on Wednesday 21st March at UCI Cinema Blanchardstown and ends on Friday 23rd March 2012. Full details on screenings and tickets for the Fingal Film Festival can be found on www.fingalfilmfest.com There are limited tickets available for the Gala and the Award night, so you must book early to secure a place. Tickets can be purchased on http://entertainment.ie/tickets/fingal-film-festival.asp
Visit www.fingalfilmfest.com
