Three short documentaries have been awarded funding as part of the Irish Film Board’s Reality Bites scheme.
‘Jesus Lives’ from Areaman Productions; ‘The Last Days of Peter Bergman’ from Fastnet Films and ‘On Tellies’ from Twopair Films have each been chosen for the scheme, which aims to encourage experimentation and fresh approaches to documentary filmmaking. Each short has received €15,000 in funding and has just under a year to complete their work, which can be a maximum of 12 minutes in length.
‘Jesus Lives’ is to be written by Patrick Bolger, directed by Tom Burke and produced by Shane Hogan for Areaman; ‘The Last Days of Peter Bergman’ is to be written and directed by Ciaran Cassidy and produced by Morgan Bushe for Fastnet Films; and ‘On Tellies’ is to be written by Jill Beardsworth and Keith Walsh with Keith directing and Jill producing for Twopair Films.
Tom Burke and Shane Hogan previously worked together on the feature documentary ‘The Liberties,’ which was selected for the IFI Stranger than Fiction Festival and broadcast on RTÉ1.
Morgan Bushe worked with Ciaran Cassidy on the Reality Bites short ‘Collaboration Horizontale’ which picked up the Best Short Documentary at the Palm Springs International Shortfest.
Bushe also produced last year's Reality Bites short ‘Remember Me, My Ghost’ as well as a host of other feature hits including ‘The Runway,’ ‘Nothing Personal’ and ‘Colony’.
Jill Beardsworth and Keith Walsh previously worked together on the feature documentary ‘Apples of the Golan’ which is screening at the Galway Film Fleadh tomorrow (July 12). Their documentary short, ‘On Tellies’, will look at “analogue people in a digital age” and will centre on the upcoming Saorview TV switchover on October 24. The film will explore Irish people’s relationship to television and will observe ordinary people in their domestic habitats. It is described as “an affectionate ode to a people living between an analogue past and a digital future”.
The Reality Bites shorts are funded the Irish Film Board and will premiere at the Corona Cork Film Festival 2013.
