In our latest short film round-up, IFTN takes a look at Thomas Hefferon’s ‘Falling Apart’, which came second in the London Sci-Fi 48 Hour Film Festival; Brown Bag Films’ 'Anya'; and the Clones Film Festival’s short film challenge.
‘Falling Apart’ Comes second in London Sci-Fi 48 Hour Film Festival
Dublin-based filmmaker Thomas Hefferon’s sci-fi short ‘Falling Apart’ was awarded second place at the London Sci-Fi 48 Hour Film Festival, with head judges Guillermo Del Toro and 'Sherlock' actor Benedict Cumberbatch both praising the film.
Participants in the challenge were assigned a random title, line of dialogue and prop, and given 48 hours to write, shoot and complete post production on the short for delivery to the London BFI.
Mr Hefferon is currently developing a feature film inspired by the short and has previously won awards for his short films at festivals including Tribeca, Palm Springs Shortfest and the Dublin International Film Festival.
‘Falling Apart’, which stars Charlie Clements (‘Eastenders’) and Anna Skellern (‘The Descent 2’) is now available to watch on YouTube by clicking here.
Brown Bag Films Creates Short for Children’s Charity
Oscar-nominated Brown Bag Films have collaborated with Irish charity 'To Russia With Love' to create an animated short set in a Russian orphanage, to raise awareness about the charity’s work.
Written and directed by IFTA-nominated animator Damien O'Connor, 'Anya' is a four minute film that illustrates 20 years in the life of an abandoned
child as she grows up in a Russian orphanage.
Mr O’Connor said: ‘To Russia With Love initially approached me to do a short online advert, but after reading about the children in their care, we decided a short film would work much better. Travelling to Russia to meet the children was a profound experience and hearing their stories was heart breaking. 'To Russia With Love' break the cycle of abandonment and give hope to the children in their care. The message of hope is something we tried strongly to convey through the film.’
Charity founder Debbie Deegan was greatly appreciative of the generosity shown to them by Brown Bag Films.
‘Brown Bag Films are fantastic to work with and this will be an enormous help to our fundraising efforts. We are so grateful that Brown Bag donated their time and expertise to our charity,’ she added.
Founded in 1998, 'To Russia With Love' in 1998 offers care programmes in many orphanages across Russia - improving living conditions, healthcare and education.
Dublin-based Brown Bag Films are the producers of such international TV
series as 'The Octonauts', 'Peter Rabbit' and Disney's 'Doc McStuffins' and 'Henry Hugglemonster'.
They are collaborating with Singapore's Infinite Frameworks Studios on ‘Anya’, and their progress can be followed by clicking on the link here.
Clones Film Festival announces 7th 'Francies' Short Film Challenge
The Clones Film Festival has launched its annual short film challenge, inviting filmmakers, writers and crew to script, prep, scout locations, cast, rehearse, film, edit and present a finished short film in just 48 hours.
The winner will receive the ‘Francie’ jury award - named after ‘The Butcher Boy’s Francie Brady, with an audience award also to be handed out.
At the start of the competition, each team will be given a budget of €400 to cover all expenses, apart from accommodation, and will have to secure their own location permissions, cast and props.
Clones Film Festival will provide a production assistant who will liaise with the teams and act in an advisory capacity.
Interested production teams are invited to submit a detailed proposal of the film they wish to make, which can be in any genre but must be feasible to shoot in one day with a skeleton crew.
Films, ranging from 3-9minutes in length, must be completed over the weekend of 25th-27th October 2013.
The deadline for entries is September 28th 2013 and entries and proposals must be submitted by e-mail to: info@clonesfilmfestival.com
More detailed information can be found on the Clones Film Festival website here.
