Palm Springs, Arcipelago & Hollywood Fests Screening Irish Projects

Eleven Irish short films have been officially selected for the Palm Springs International Shortfest which takes place in California from the 22nd to the 28th of June. The chosen projects include ‘Moore Street Masala’, ‘Noreen’ and ‘Bye Bye Now’.

The Arcipelago Rome Film Festival which runs between the 18th and 24th June and, this year, sees the inclusion of three Irish projects including ‘Paradiso’, a documentary produced by Margo Harkin and short films ‘Dental Breakdown’ from Ian Power and ‘Jericho’ from Liam Gavin.

Fergal Rock’s ‘Henry & Sunny’ will screen at the Feel Good Short Film Competition held August 13th through August 15th, at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre.

Palm Springs International Short Fest

Eleven Irish short films have been officially selected for the Palm Springs International Shortfest which takes place in California from the 22nd to the 28th of June. The Irish projects chosen to screen include ‘Bye, Bye Now’, ‘Dental Breakdown’, ‘Hasan Everywhere’, ‘Moore Street Masala’, ‘Please Say Something’ and ‘Noreen’.

‘Bye, Bye Now’ from Ross Whittaker and Aideen O'Sullivan, is a short documentary exploring the proposal to remove a number of phoneboxes from around the country, evoking fond memories in the lives of rural Irish communities; David O'Sullivan's ‘Moore Street Masala’, is a love story about shop clerk Baba who falls for the sexy estate agent across the street, leading to a Bollywood dance finale in the streets of Dublin; ‘Please Say Something’, directed by David O'Reilly, is an original tale about an adverse relationship between a cat and mouse set in the distant future and Ken Wardrop's ‘Return to Roscoff’ looks at the themes of family and belonging in his story of a woman's attempt to bring closure to a relationship. ‘The Runway’ director Ian Power’s ‘Dental Breakdown’, produced by Fiona Kinsella (The Pool) is a Musical Comedy about five reluctant student dentists whose eyes are opened to the cruel consolations of their career by a sadistic tutor.

Animation-wise ‘The Trembling Veil of Bones’, which was written, directed and animated by Matthew Talbot- Kelly, is the story of an anachronistic clockmaker whose stagnant life is thrown into disarray when a centaur postman robot delivers a package from an unforgotten love of thirty years ago, whilst ‘Hasan Everywhere’, written and directed by Andrew Kavanagh, tells the story of an Israeli novelist who strikes up a friendship with a Palestinian artist when they meet by chance in New York, a friendship which would not have been possible at home.

‘Cold Turkey’, written and directed by Gavin Keane examines the misadventures of a frustrated Foley artist, curious children and petrified poultry whilst Domhnall Gleeson’s criminal short ‘Noreen’ tells the story of two Gardaí who solve their own problems through the process of attempting to explain a mysterious death. Finally, ‘Passing’, written and directed by David Freyne, sees Margaret make an arduous journey with her husband in tow, carrying on a conversation about their lives together along the way and ‘The Pool’, directed by Thomas Hefferon and co-written by Thomas Hefferon and T.J Hundtofte centres on three teenage boys who break into their school swimming pool late one night for a test of skill and endurance.

Now in its 16th year, the Palm Springs International ShortFest showcases over 300 short films from more than 40 countries, with a library of more than 2,700 films available to film buyers, industry and press in its concurrent Short Film Market. Festival events include nightly receptions, seminars, master classes, and scheduled one-on-one meetings with industry experts and filmmaking professional.

Palm Springs International Shortfest will take place this month in California from 22nd 228th June. For further details see http://www.psfilmfest.org/

Arcipelago Rome Film Festival

‘Paradiso’ is an hour long documentary directed by Alessandro Negrini and produced by Margo Harkin (Waveriders) which is set in Derry. The doc sees Roy Arbuckle decide it’s time to challenge one of the monstrosities left by the war: fear. He reunites his former showband, The Signetts and the former musicians, now in their seventies, organise a major dance night in a bid to getting Protestants and Catholics dancing together again in The Fountain, a dying Protestant district. The film, commissioned by the BBC, recently won Best Documentary Award in the Independent Films Section at Dhaka International Film Festival and the director of photography is Odd Geir Saether (Turnaround).

The Short Planet section of the film festival will see the screening of ‘Jericho’ from Liam Gavin (Sushower) and Ian Power’s ‘Dental Breakdown’.

Produced by Samson Films, ‘Jericho’ centres around Franky Bannon, a man who can't cope. In his fifties and recently widowed, he is suicidal. That is until his bizarre imaginary childhood friends return to show him that the world is beautiful.

Founded in 1992, Arcipelago International Festival of Short Films and New Images runs with the aim of worldwide search and acknowledgement of the most original drives and of the most innovative film languages developing inside non-standard audiovisual formats - starting with short films and including products belonging to the new "digital domain" and to the Web's borderless immaterial landscapes. The festival runs from the 18th to the 24th of June and a full list of the projects screening is available at http://www.arcipelagofilmfestival.org/site

Henry & Sunny

‘Henry & Sunny’, a short film written and directed by Fergal Rock (Tom Waits Made Me Cry) and produced by Orla Russell Conway (cinematographer, Full Circle) has been invited to participate in the Feel Good Short Film Competition held August 13th through August 15th, at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre. The festival looks to showcase “films with happy endings, that make audiences laugh, and that capture the beauty of our world”.

‘Henry & Sunny’ has also been officially selected for competition at Porto 7 – Festival Internacional de Curtas-metragens do Porto which takes place in Portugal from June 16th to 20th. Porto 7 promotes the production and exhibition of short films, music videos and cultural exchanges between different nationalities participating in artistic forms of expression.

‘Henry & Sunny’, which stars Paulo Braganca (Tráfico) and Dorothy Cotter (The Euthanizer), tells the bittersweet tale of Henry, an unemployed clown, in love with the famous soap opera actress, Sunny Carmichael.The short will next screen on these shores as part of the Underground Cinema Roadshow which opens in Fermoy, Co. Cork on July 4th. More details about ‘Henry & Sunny’ can be found on the film’s blog: http://henryandsunny.blogspot.com/

Post-production is currently underway on Fergal Rock’s next short. ‘On Our Way’ stars Dorothy Cotter and Matthew Keenan (The Clinic) as two lost souls who meet by chance and find a connection. The film is produced by Fergal Rock and Noni Stapleton (Marion agus an Banphrionsa) with cinematography by Orla Russell Conway. The film is being edited by Nick Callan and is due for an autumn release.

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