The 58 shorts to screen at Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) have been announced. The selection was narrowed down from 3074 submissions from 16 countries, and three Irish films were among the lucky ones selected. The 2014 shorts will be presented in 9 thematic categories which include 5 narrative categories, 3 documentary categories and an experimental category.
‘Scratch’, directed and written by Philip Kelly and co-written by Liam Ryan, will see its New York premiere at Tribeca. The film sees a man called Eoin’s life turn upside down when a strange mix of regulars and strangers visit the petrol station while he works there. The film stars Conor Drum, Stephen Jones (‘Between the Canals’), Sam Keeley (‘What Richard Did’) and Ian Lloyd Anderson (‘Love/Hate’).
Warrior Films was the production company behind ‘Scratch’, with Liam Ryan and Dave Leahy as producers. Cinematography was by JJ Rolfe, production design by John McHale, costume by SJ French O'Carroll and make up by Nina Ayoub. Aisling Byrne choreographed, Eamonn Cleary edited and Eugene McCrystal was the colourist.
The short was made with support from the Galway Film Centre and RTÉ film funding. It was previously screened at JDIFF, Galway Film Fleadh, San Francisco Irish Film Festival, Cork Film Festival, Foyle Film Festival and the London Short Film Festival. At Tribeca it will be part of the ‘Handle with Care’ narrative program alongside four other shorts.
Another Irish short to screen at the festival is ‘Rubaí’, written by Antoin Beag O’Colla, directed by Louise Ní Fhiannachta and produced by Gemma O’ Shaughnessy for Magamedia Teo. Ní Fhiannachta has received IFTA nominees this year for ‘Rubaí’ and also for ‘Páidí Ó Sé – Rí an Pharóiste’. It is part of Tribeca’s ‘Moral Fibers’ program.
The touching short sees a young girl called Rubaí cause havoc by declaring she is an atheist while her classmates are devoutly preparing for their First Communion. It was awarded funding from the IFB through the ‘Gearrscannáin’ scheme, which produces Irish language shorts, and won for Best Short Drama at the Galway Film Fleadh. It is also up for an IFTA this year, for Best Short Film.
Finally, the short film ‘Incident Urbain’ will be screening before ‘Karpotrotter’ in the Viewpoints sections. The debut short was directed and written by John Lalor, a France-based Irish artist whose focus is on two men who are bound by a mysterious past, and whose scholarly conversation about the architectural landscape, cinema and revolutionary politics around them leads to a catastrophe.
The short stars André S Labarthe and Jean-François Stévenin. It was funded by the Irish Arts Council. You can view a trailer for the short below:
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Irish features ‘The Stag’ and ‘The Canal’ (which will have its world premiere at the festival – read about it here) will also screen at Tribeca.
