It's not about art - except for the artwork. It's not about film - but then again, it is. It's digital. It's diverse and it's in Dublin. It's the 2nd Darklight Digital Film Festival. Gary Quinn caught up with one of its directors, Mary Farrelly, to find out just what we can expect this year.
With the selection panel meeting to choose the programme for this year's event there is an air of excitement growing around the Darklight Film Festival 2000. Set up last year to harness the growing potential of digital film it embraced a host of genres including live action film, installations, music and animation. This is not so strange given the backgrounds of some of those involved. Two sculptors, a graphic artist and a performing artist represent the bedrock of the festival, each of whom have been pulled towards the medium of digital film. "This lack of a traditional grounding in film is what gives the festival its energy" explained director Mary Farrelly. "Last years event really attracted new people. People who would not have had a background in film and given them the space and the opportunity to show their work - even with a very low budget."
This fresh approach to developing the independent film scene was the goal of the festival but they were not sure at the outset if it would work. "Being the first year it was hard to anticipate the outcome. But really the feedback that we received proved that it was all worthwhile. People who attended last year and saw the potential, went home and started working on new projects for this year. That was exciting," Mary Farrelly explained.
Not everyone at the festival is a newcomer however. There is a diverse range of national and international artists lining up to participate and this allows a much wider, more confident approach this year. They hope to showcase a series of Japanese animation which will marry well with the emerging trend, that Irish animation entries are very strong this year. Coupled with live action and "a surprising amount of music videos" there is a very diverse programme in the offing.
Opening with a big name feature film yet to be announced, the festival promises to take over Temple Bar for the four day event. Opening on Thursday 25th May the programme has been developed around a strong framework of screenings, installation artwork, workshops and seminars and the Future Shadow strand - A mixed media live music event taking in three indoor and outdoor venues and streamed live on the Internet.
The Darklight exhibition, Straylight, is a new direction for this year. Responding to a visible need for more installation work this section threatens to come to the audience rather than wait for the audience to come to it. Combining gallery based and public work, Straylight will build a series of public projections designed to catch the eye and reflect the urban theme of the event. Soundworks will also be utilised to catch the listener unawares on the streets and stray monitors will be placed in unexpected venues, unwittingly attracting the viewer into the heart of the festival itself.
Although the closing date for entries to the Darklight screening section is already closed the Straylight strand remains open until as late as the 15th April. These can be works on DVD, music and sound based pieces, installations, music, video projections, digital imaging, gaming or even Virtual Reality packages. Anything, in fact, which will stimulate the eye or ear.
Competition for programme selection is high. Once the domain of titled professionals, the availability of digital cameras and sound editing equipment has meant that more and more people are realising the opportunity to record their ideas and stretch their creative vision. It looks like this is one festival which is here to stay.
The festival runs from Thursday 25th - Sunday 28th May 2000.
Further information is available at
www.darklight-filmfestival.com
