Irish Shorts Roundup: Shorts Impress Irish and Global Audiences with Festival Selections and Awards
Short films funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board continue to make their mark both in Ireland and around the world. These shorts have impressed audiences with official selections and award wins and nominations.
Directed by Tom Sullivan and written by Muirinn Lane Kelly, Personal Development will make its international debut at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in April. It will also screen at Indie Lisboa, the Brussels Short Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival. In Ireland, it has already played at the Galway Film Fleadh, CorkIndie and will next screen at the Fastnet Film Festival.
The Frameworks short Somewhere Down the Line, directed by Julien Regnard and produced by Jonathan Clarke for Cartoon Saloon, was the winner of the Best Animation Film Award at the prestigious Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival in February. It has also been nominated for the Best Animated Short Film award at the Cartoons on the Bay festival to be held in Venice in April. It has also been officially selected for the Fastnet Film Festival, the Sarasota Film Festival in Florida and for Befilm New York.
The Ledge End of Phil (From Accounting), written and directed by Paul Ó Muiris, recently won the award for Best Animated Short at the Irish Film Festa in Rome and has been selected to screen at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Florida Film Festival and the Collinsville Film Festival.
The Alan Friel-directed Signatures short Sophie at the Races recently played at the European Independent Film Festival, held in Paris from April 10 to 12, where actress Siobhan O'Kelly won the award for Best Actress. The short has also played at the Irish Film Festival London, the Dingle International Film Festival and the Athens International Film and Video Festival in the USA.
Tea With the Dead was the winner of the Best Animation award at Raindance London, and was the joint winner of the Best Animation award at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. The short, written and directed by Gilly, has also screened at the Aspen Shortsfest where it was officially selected.
Bloody Good Headline, a Reality Bites short from directors Paul Quinn and Tom Burke which examines migrant newspaper vendors as they weave their own paths through Dublin's rush hour traffic, will be screening at the Belfast Film Festival in April. Bloody Good Headline previously won the Jury Award at the IFI Stranger Than Fiction documentary film festival in 2014.
Gearrscannán Céad Ghrá was the winner of a Cine Talent award for director Brian Deane and writer Matthew Roche at this year's JDIFF. It has screened in the US as part of the Cleveland International Film Festival as well as Newport Beach Film Festival and a special screening in the Irish Art Centre in New York. In Ireland it has appeared at the Cork Film Festival and Dingle Film festival, and will next appear at the Fastnet Film Festival.
Director Aidan McAteer's Frameworks animation Deadly has won five awards since its debut at the Galway Film Fleadh, including Best Short at the Irish Animation Awards. It has also screened at 30 festivals worldwide, including Sitges Fantastic Film Festival, Foyle film Festival, Cinequest, Anima Festival, Cleveland Film Festival, Montreal International Animation Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival and Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film.
Signatures short Cutting Grass, written and directed by Ruairí O'Brien and John Kennedy and starring John Hannah, has appeared at the Galway, Cork and Foyle film festivals in Ireland in addition to the London Irish Film Festival and the Boston Irish Film Festival. In the coming weeks it will also screen at the Be Film Underground Film Festival in New York, the Tripoli Film Festival in Lebanon and the Fastnet Short Film Festival. It has also been nominated for the Best Short Film Script at the Zebbie awards, the annual awards created by the writers guild of Ireland, which take place on May 20.
Director Medb Johnstone's Gearrscannán Rince meanwhile has been officially selected for numerous film festivals since its debut at the Galway Film Fleadh, including the Cork Film Festival, the Dingle Film Festival, the Limerick Film Festival, at which it has received a nomination for Best Editing, and the Fastnet Short Film Festival.
For more on IFB-funded short films, see http://www.thisisirishfilm.ie/shorts