Latest from IFTN

	Irish Film Board Welcomes New Board Members 25 Feb 2009 Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen has announced the new members of the Irish Film Board. The Minister has re-appointed current Chairman of the Board, James Morris, to this position for a twelve month period. more
	Minister Announces New RTE Authority 24 Feb 2009 Communications Minister Eamon Ryan has announced the appointment of the new RTE Authority, which includes filmmaker Alan Gilsenan and former CEO of the Arts Council Patricia Quinn. more

NFS Wins at RTS Student Television Awards 26 Feb 2009 The National Film School at IADT in Dun Laoghaire swept the boards in two out of the three sections, receiving both nominations, including the eventual winner. more

Darklights A Night of Movies and Music 26 Feb 2009 Darklight Film Festival is hosting A Night Of Movies and Music in aid of the Darklight Festival 2009 to be held on March 1st, 2009 at 8pm, in the Sugar Club, Dublin. more

Brosnan to Make Capa Biopic 25 Feb 2009 Pierce Brosnans production company Irish Dreamtime is reported to be developing a biopic of the life of Hungarian photojournalist Robert Capa. more

Deadline for Frameworks Scheme 25 Feb 2009 The deadline for the short animation scheme, Frameworks, co funded by BSE/IFB, the Arts Council and RTE has been announced for Friday, April 24th. more

Secret of Kells Wins Top Prize at JDIFF 24 Feb 2009 Irish animated feature, The Secret of Kells, from Kilkenny based Cartoon Saloon, has been selected as the best Irish film screened at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. Swedish horror movie Let the Right One In was named as the best film and the best performance prize went to Tom Hardy for his turn as British convict Charles Bronson in Nicolas Winding Refns Bronson. more

San Francisco Irish Film Festival 24 Feb 2009 Marian Quinns 32a and feature doc Saviours are among the Irish titles that will screen at the upcoming 6th Annual San Francisco Irish Film Festival taking place on March 5th and 6th in the Roxie Theatre, San Francisco. more

Celtic Media Fest Announce Festival Programme 24 Feb 2009 The Celtic Media Festival has announced its programme of events for the festival which takes place in Caernarfon from 25 to 27 March 2009. more

Midas Idir Mna to air TG4 24 Feb 2009 Midas Productions new documentary series for TG4 Idir Mna (Amongst Women) will air this Thursday 26th February at 10.15pm with a repeat Monday at 11.00pm. more

Gildea wins Write Here, Write Now award 24 Feb 2009 Short Filmmaker Sonya Gildea has scooped the inaugural Jameson Dublin International Film Festival and Walt Disney Studios Motion (Ireland) Write Here, Write Now screenwriting award for her script Faith at this years festival. more

Dragons Den Starts on RTE Tonight 19 Feb 2009 The Irish version of Dragons Den produced by Screentime ShinAwil is due to air tonight on RTE One 10.15pm. more

Get 8 Grand to Shoot in Offaly

FilmOffaly in association with Filmbase have just announced details of the FilmOffaly Award 2009.

It's a new funding initiative to foster creative, resourceful filmmaking in Offaly. They're looking for unique, original stories by talented new filmmakers, professional and novice alike. The only stipulation is that the filming must take place in Offaly. Yikes!

Much like with THE HIGHLANDER, There Can Be Only One, so competition will be tough with the one successful applicant receiving:
8,000 euro towards the cost of the production
A premier in Tullamore Omniplex Cinema
A one year Filmbase membership to the Writer, Producer and Director of the winning film
A fifty percent discount on production equipment and / or editing facilities from Filmbase for the project
Filmbase's production insurance to cover the shoot

Please submit a script including 500 word synopsis of the film project by Friday, April 3rd at 3pm to:
FilmOffaly, Offaly County Council, Charleville Road, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
Form More details please call 057 9357400 or email filmoffaly@offalycoco.ie

KFF presents MRS HENDERSON PRESENTS

With the Oscars just over and a hugely successful screening for Active Retired Groups and Individuals in January, Kerry Film Festival and Siamsa Tire have partnered to bring a wonderful double Oscar nominated film to the big screen in Tralee. The screening of MRS HENDERSON PRESENTS will take place in Siamsa Tire on Thursday, March 5th at 2:00 pm and is absolutely free to everyone over the age of 65.

"We screened Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps last month to a rapturous crowd. Everyone that came seemed to love the movie but I think they really enjoyed the social aspect of the afternoon too," said Jason O' Mahony, Kerry Film Festival Director. The Festival offers free refreshments to the film fans before each screening.

"I haven't been to the cinema in years. It's hard to know what to see. But I love old Hitchcock films and it was nice to see an old classic film like The 39 Steps on the big screen. We got a lovely warm welcome from everyone at Kerry Film Festival too. In fact I think we enjoyed the wee chat and cup of tea every bit as much as the film," said Mary Walsh, from Tralee, with a laugh.

Mrs. Henderson Presents is directed by Stephen Frears and was nominated for two Oscars. It stars Bob Hoskins and Judi Dench, in an Oscar nominated role, and was made in 2005. It tells the true life story of Laura Henderson who bought an old London theater and opened it up as the Windmill, a performance hall which has gone down in history for, among other things, its all-nude revues!

"It sounds a little racy but isn't at all," added Jason, "I'm sure that everyone that comes will have a great time."

And while many of the attendees are from the Tralee area organizers received a call from a gentleman from Dublin who saw a piece on the January screening in the Irish Times. Apparently he'll use his free travel-pass to come down by train for this one and head home again in the evening!

The final film of the series is Sidney Lumet's 1957 classic, 12 Angry Men, starring Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb and will screen in Siamsa on Thursday, April 9th at 2:00 pm. 12 Angry Men is consistently voted among the top ten films of all time and was nominated for 3 Oscars. Henry Fonda gives an absolutely riveting performance as a dissenting juror in a murder trial who slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.

All films will screen in Siamsa Tire at 2:00 pm. For more information please call Kerry Film Festival on 066 712 9934.

For more information on Kerry Film Festival please log onto www.kerryfilmfestival.com

For more information on Samhlaiocht please log on to www.samhlaiocht.com

Samhlaiocht is supported through grant aid from The Arts Council, Kerry County Council, Failte Ireland and by the generous corporate sponsorship of Kerry Group.

Galway Film Centre Offers Script Analysis Course

Paula Mulroe (former Head of Development at the Film Board and script editor on The Clinic) tutors this course aimed at those who want to learn how scripts are evaluated professionally by funding organisations and production companies. In each session, you will learn about a particular area for analysis by reading scripts and watching individual films. Each week, you will be asked to write a report on a script taking on board professional criteria outined and feedback will be given on these.

Course Content:
Funding organisations and production companies when analysing scripts look at the following areas of analysis when choosing scripts to fund or produce.

• structure
• characterisation
• visualisation
• style
• tone
• commercial viability
• cultural criteria
• entertainment value/intended audience

This script reading course will therefore aim to inform participants how to analyse and produce reports of a professional standard for industry organisations and companies.

Course Dates: 4 Saturdays, 28th February, 7th, 21st, 28th March (10 am to 4.45 pm daily)

Fee: 455 euro waged/420 euro unwaged (These fees include membership to the Centre for the year)

Limited Places Available.

For more information please log onto www.galwayfilmcentre.ie or call Mary on 091 770 748

Latest from IFTN

IFTAs International Jury Commends Irish Creative Talent
	The voting for the 6th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards has come to a close with the winners of this year's Awards being voted for by a combination of the IFTA Academy and a selection of International Jury headed up by Oscar winning director Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong). more

Carson Appointed RTEs Director of Programmes
	RTE Television has appointed independent producer Steve Carson as the new Director of Programmes. Carson takes up his new role in a week's time. more

Thaddeus O Sullivan to Direct Obsession
	Irish director Thaddeus O Sullivan, Ordinary Decent Criminal, December Bride),is being lined up to direct the new psychological thriller, Obsession, adapted from Alec Coppel's novel A Man About A Dog by screenwriter Rob Green (House). more

Brown Bag's Olivia Airs on Nickelodeon
	Irish animation company Brown Bag Films has completed a 52 part CGI animation series Olivia for leading family entertainment company Chorion. The series has started to air weekdays at 11.30am on Nickelodeon in the US. more

Jenn Murray Lands Role In The Day Of The Triffids
	Teen Irish actress Jenn Murray has landed a starring role in BBC One's Latest drama, The Day Of The Triffids, alongside screen veterans Vanessa Redgrave (Julia, Howards End), Dougray Scott (Mission Impossible II, Desperate Houswives) and Joley Richardson (Nip/Tuck). more

Irish Industry News

Morahan Joins Ballydung Duo 'Podge and Rodge'

TV presenter Caroline Morahan has been revealed as the new host of The Podge and Rodge Show to begin presenting from next Monday night 9th February until the end of the show's run in April. more

Magma Film's Niko Tops Finnish Film Awards

Niko and the Way To The Stars, the animated feature film co-produced by Magma Films in Galway and Anima Vitae in Finland, has won the Best Film and Best Script Jussi awards at the Finnish Film Awards in Helsinki.more

Canada's Strategic Partners Spotlight Ireland

The 29th Atlantic Film Festival and Canadas co production outfit Strategic Partners will host a special spotlight on co producing with Ireland and Germany during the festival, which runs from 18 to 20 September 2009 in Halifax, Nova Scotia more

Evening Standard Awards for Shortt, McDonagh and McQueen

Pat Shortt has jointly won the Best Actor Award with Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon) at the Evening Standard British Film Awards last night for his performance in Lenny Abrahamson's Garage. Hunger and Martin McDonagh also picked up gongs awarded by the London newspaper. more

IFC Obtains US Rights to 'The Escapist'

Parallel Film's co-produced feature The Escapist, directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring Brian Cox and Liam Cunningham, has been picked up by IFC Films for US distribution.more

Irish and International Guests Visiting JDIFF

Irish actors Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt, Brendan Gleeson along with a host of international talent have been confirmed to attend the 2009 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 12 to 22 February 2009. more

Culture Ireland Awards Grants to Promote Irish film

From an almost 700,000 euro in grant funding to over 80 projects, Culture Ireland has allocated a subtotal of 52,000 euro to the Irish film sector. more

Shooting Begins On The Fading Light

Principal photography has begun on the low budget feature film, The Fading Light, directed by Ivan Kavanagh Tin Can Man and produced by AnneMarie Naughton of Park Films.more

Two Nominations for Feature Doc Fight or Flight

IFTA nominated feature documentary Fight or Flight, directed by Peter J McCarthy and Shan Sutton, has been nominated for Best Foreign Documentary at the Long Island Film Festival and is also one of the finalists for Best Documentary at the Beloit International Film Festival in Wisconsin running from 19th to 22nd February 2009. more