Exciting and new Irish filmmaking talent? We love it!
The Irish Film Board funded, ‘Signatures’ and ‘Reality Bites’ shorts will be unveiled at a special premiere programme at this year’s 56th Corona Cork Film festival which takes place from the 6th to the 13th of November.
This is the fourth round of these two schemes to be unveiled at the festival in Cork. ‘Signatures', the Irish Film Board's flagship short film scheme, focuses on the making of live-action, fiction films that aim to encourage strong, original storytelling, visual flair and production values appropriate to the big screen. The ‘Reality Bites' alternatively scheme encourages experimentation and the realization of a fresh approach to non-fiction filmmaking.
Shorts that will premiere on the day for the ‘Reality Bites’ scheme include director Ross Mc Donell’s ‘Remember Me, My Ghost’ which tells the harrowing but ultimately triumphant tale of one woman's life in the iconic Ballymun flats. It was produced by Morgan Bushe for Fastnet Films. ‘Home Turf’ directed by Ross Whitaker and produced by Aideen O'Sullivan for True Films and celebrates the ancient tradition of turf cutting.
Also included are ‘Quarantine’ co-directed by Tadhg O'Sullivan and Feargal Ward is an intimate portrait of one woman's solitary time in the Radioactive Iodine Suite in St Lukes hospital. The short documentary was produced by Pat Collins for Harvest Films. Tom Burke's ‘The Fisherman’ also makes an appearance; the short follows Pat Walker as he climbs the high hill of Bull na Mór, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean to honour his father memory and to contemplate a life spent at sea. It was produced by Shane Hogan for Areaman Productions.
‘Two Hearts’, ‘Cluck’, ‘Foxes’ and ‘The Hatch’ are all going to be show as part of the ‘Signatures’ initiative. ‘Two Hearts’ written by Colin Thornton and directed by Darren Thornton, tells the story of Lorna, a woman who finds herself drawn back into a forbidden love after a man from her past is released from prison. ‘Two Hearts’ was produced by Colette Farrell for Calipo Pictures.
Feathers are ruffled at the orphanage when a new arrival threatens to upset the pecking order in ‘Cluck’ written and directed by Michael Lavelle. It is produced by Rory Dungan of Tilted Pictures and photography is by Kate McCullough. Lorcan Finnegan's ‘Foxes’ tells the tale of a young couple trapped in an estate of empty houses and shrieking foxes beckon from their isolation into a twilight world, a world of the paranormal or perhaps insanity. It was written by Garret Shanley and produced by Brunella Cocchiglia for Lovely Productions.
Finally ‘The Hatch’ written and directed by Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman takes place on-board a fishing trawler one stormy night when a fisherman and his son witness a glowing object fall to sea. As they battle the elements to get it on board, the boy loses his life. The grieving father is left alone to deal with the otherworldly object and its unexpected contents. The short was produced by Gary Moore for Red Rage Productions.
The shorts will be screened in the Cork Opera House on Saturday 12th November at 4pm. For more information on the short film schemes run by the Irish Film Board visit The Irish Film Board
