Next year's event will be the 5th edition of the festival. In 2009, despite budget cuts of almost 30% due to the recession, the Festival organisers saw an increase of nearly 35% in audience attendance. Over 70% of the festival’s programming in 2009 came from European countries, with the other films coming from South Africa, Australia, Canada, China, India and the USA.
Guth Gafa does not have an open submission policy. It is a 100% curated Festival, with a team of programmers attending international and Irish Festivals to seek out the best new documentary films for the festival. However, international and Irish films (over 50 minutes only) will be considered if they fit the programming requirements.
Submissions should be made by writing first to info@guthgafa.com and should contain the following information: Name of Film, Director, Year of Production, Other Festival Screenings, Awards, Short Synopsis of the film (up to 300 words), Directors' biography (up to 200 words), Website address and e-mail address of the Contact Person for the Film. Entrants are asked to mark the Subject line of your e-mail – ‘Submissions 2010’
Guth Gafa’s Programming Team will request screeners of Films that fit into their 2010 requirements.
The aims and objectives of the Guth Gafa festival are to bring to the Donegal Gaeltacht, documentary films made to high international standards, including in the Irish language; to promote the use of Irish in the documentary film industry. The festival recently won a Carlton Best of Festivals Marketing Award. Out of 400 Festivals nationwide, Guth Gafa won in the category Best Total Marketing Message 2009.
Festival Director Neasa Ní Chianáin (Fairytale of Kathmandu director) who received the award at the AOIFE (Association of Irish Festival Events) Conference on Friday 6th November, ascribes Guth Gafa’s success to investing in human capital. “Despite this dreadful recession, we’ve been able to increase audience numbers by 20% and increase employment numbers too – we’ve found some very capable people. This award is a recognition that a little film festival in a small town in the Gaeltacht can pull off something significant and important. Our 5th Festival in June 2010 will be even bigger and better.”
For more information visit www.guthgafa.com.