Selection for the Sundance Festival is considered a major coup for emerging filmmakers given its reputation for showcasing the work of leading and rising independents.
Cartoon Saloon’s 'Old Fangs' is directed by Adrien Merigeau - who worked as one of the lead background artists for ‘The Secret of Kells’. ‘Old Fangs’ was produced under the Frameworks short animation scheme funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB), the Arts Council and RTÉ. It tells the story of a young Wolf who decides to confront his father, whom he hasn't seen since he was a child.
‘Please Say Something' is written and directed by David O'Reilly who recently directed the animation on the music video for U2’s ‘I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight’. The short film deals with a troubled relationship between a Cat and Mouse set in the distant future. The final film was completed in January 2009 and contains 23 episodes of exactly 25 seconds each. Written and directed by David O Reilly, the film won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film earlier this year at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival.
The Sundance Director of Programming, Trevor Goth, commented that "Sundance has a long legacy of supporting short filmmaking. Short films are at the core of what independent filmmaking is about -- these films are made out of pure passion without commerce in mind." He continued, saying “We are also continuing the tradition of holding the Short Film Awards mid-week during the Festival. It's proven to be a great way to bring attention to these artists and their films.”
David O’Reilly tells IFTN he is "Pleased but slightly disappointed it's in the animated shorts category. We used so much advanced motion-capture on the cat I was sure it would make it into documentary, or at least live action.”
The Sundance Film Festival takes place from January 21st - 31st 2010. For a full list of the Short Film finalists visit festival.sundance.org
