Director Frank Kelly (Emily's Song, Bill for Short) is gearing up for the production of two new upcoming films: the short - ‘Slán agus Beannacht’ and feature doc ‘140’ based on the blogging website Twitter.com.
‘Slán agus Beannacht’ tells the story of Pat, a rent collector who has walked the same route for 30 years. But with increasing violence on the streets and a changing Ireland he now stands to lose friends, his job and his way of life.
The short will feature the acting talents of Paschal Scott (Killinaskully), Gerry Shanahan (Colour From the Dark), Shane Murray Corcoran (King Arthur, Angelas Ashes), Eric O'Brien (Emily's Song), Noel Kelly (George Gentle: Bomber's Moon, Bill for Short) and Tony Leddy. JJ Rolfe (Satellites & Meteorites) is DOP with shooting to take place in Drogheda and Dundalk in April for one week.
The film is being independently funded with the help of local businesses and a fundraiser being held in The Venue, McHugh's, Chord Road, Drogheda on March 5th and featuring comedians Jason Byrne, Bernard O'Shea, singer Paddy McArdle and DJs External Sounds. Kelly’s ‘Bill, For Short’ has been invited to screen at the International Short Film Festival of Morocco and at Expresión en Corto International Film Festival in Mexico.
For the feature length documentary - ‘140’ – Kelly plans to gather 140 filmmakers in 140 locations around the world and synchronise them to shoot for 140 seconds at the same time on the website Twitter.com. While still looking for filmmakers, the list so far includes filmmakers all across America and Europe, aswell as Iceland, Romania, Mexico, India and Australia.
Kelly choose the number 140 as this is the amount of characters allowed per message on Twitter. The theme of the piece is Connection. While connected via the internet filmmakers are asked to capture what connects them to their home, and to try to capture it in 140 seconds. Kelly will then edit the footage to a feature length documentary.
"It seems ambitious, and I suppose it is,” explains Kelly. “It's 140 filmmakers around the world filming at once after all, but for every filmmaking involved it will be something very personal and intimate. It will be just them, their camera and their thoughts.”
So far the number of filmmakers stands at 39, including Irish Filmmaker Mairtin DeBarra (Tart). A full list can be found on Kelly's blog www.frankkelly.blogspot.com.
Kelly continues: "I'd like to have a strong representation of Irish filmmakers and Ireland in the end film. I think it's going to be something special. The entire world captured on film at the same time."
For more information about the project email: frank@palestoneproductions.com
