KFF to screen films at Soho Shorts Festival

The Kerry Film Festival (KFF), which is celebrating 11 years of bringing film to the people of Kerry, has partnered with a number of film festivals across the globe in an effort to promote the best Irish short films. This partnership has paid dividends and is a perfect means for KFF to screen films from the brightest up and coming Irish filmmakers in overseas venues and festivals.

The Rushes Soho Shorts Festival 2010, which is based in London, takes place from Wednesday, 21 July to Friday, 30 July and will screen 6 films from KFF 2009 at a number of venues throughout the city.

"It's great that these films will screen in London as it offers fantastic exposure for both the filmmakers and for the Kerry Film Festival," said O' Mahony. "This is our first year partnering with the Soho Shorts Festival and we're hoping that it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship! We're also delighted for the selected filmmakers because it's a ringing endorsement of their films!"

Filmmakers are also impressed with the work put in by Kerry Film Festival to promote and champion their films abroad.

"Kerry Film Festival is the film festival which just keeps on giving! It was a wonderfully warm experience with the staff and organisers genuinely concerned about ensuring that we, the film makers, had a wonderful time," said Irish Filmmaker, Declan Cassidy.

"The award I won there has commanded a lot of respect in promoting the film to industry and other festivals. But it didn't stop there. Festival Director, Jason O' Mahony, has forged an extremely impressive network with other festivals and he worked tirelessly to promote my film to them. As a result my film played in a number of festivals it would not have otherwise reached and, to my surprise and delight, the film picked up another award at one of these in Italy. Kerry Film Festival is the kind of festival you want to go back to again and again."

The films selected for the Soho Shorts Festival include CARDBOARD BOY, which was directed by young Kerry filmmaker, Kelley O' Sullivan. Also included are UNCLE BILL'S BARREL by Eoin Ryan; the brilliant animated IT'S ALL ABOUT GEORGE by Roy Lecane & Don Field, which recently won a festival award at the Chicago Irish Film Festival; GOD AND NAPOLEON by Ciaran Deeney; LONG IS THE WAY by Eoin Heaney and the Oscar nominated, GRANNY O'GRIMMS SLEEPING BEAUTY, by Nicky Phelan.

The 6 shorts films will screen 3 times over the course of the week on Friday 23 July at 16:00 in Curzon Soho; on Tuesday 27 July at 13:00 in the Tenderproduct Basement and on Thursday 29 July at 14:00 also in Curzon Soho.

Calling all RED dp's

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Lamorna films which recently produced the brilliant IT'S ALL ABOUT GEORGE, which screened at the Kerry Film Festival in 2009 and went on to pick up an award at the prestigious Chicago Irish Film Festival, is shooting a narrative short film on RED and needs an experienced DP.

Those interested should contact Lamorna on info@lamornafilms.com

Post Grad & Masters at IADT

The National Film School (NFS) at IADT was launched in November 2003. It is a centre of excellence for education and training in film, animation, broadcasting and digital media. And it is now accepting applications to its Digital Media Post Graduate Diploma/Masters MA/MSc Programme.



For more information please contact the National Film School (NFS) at IADT.

Radharc Awards

The Radharc Trust announces details of the Radharc Awards 2010 and calls for entries of documentary programming of outstanding quality in the spirit of Radharc.

The Radharc Awards were established in 2002 to honour Radharc’s achievements in religious affairs programmes for Irish television from 1962 to 1997 and to encourage similar quality documentary production in Ireland. Awards are presented every two years to the producers of documentaries of outstanding quality, which address national or international topics of social justice, morality and faith. In 2008, an additional award was introduced for similar short documentaries produced for digital media.

At the inaugural presentation of awards in 2002, the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, spoke of Radharc's programming as a "claim to excellence, to authenticity, to rigorous honesty, to the exploration of themes others wished to ignore, to the telling of stories that needed to be told boldly and told well."

The Radharc Trust is now delighted to announce details of the Radharc Awards 2010. There are two categories and the producer of the winning production in each category will receive a bronze Radharc trophy. Decorative scrolls for productions that are highly commended will also be presented.

Category One:
An award for documentaries broadcast on any channel on the island of Ireland.

Category Two:
An award for non-broadcast documentaries produced for digital media in Ireland.
The closing date for all entries is Friday 10 September 2010 at 17.00hrs

The winning entries will be announced at a lunchtime awards ceremony in Dublin in October 2010

KFF issues call for Entries to the 11th Annual Kerry Film Festival

Kerry Film Festival - Things to do in Kerry

Dave Fanning; Kerry Filmmaker, Gerard Barrett; Rebecca Miller and James Christopher at the 2009 Kerry Film Festival

The Kerry Film Festival (KFF), which is celebrating eleven years of bringing film to the people of Kerry, has issued a call for entries for the Kerry Film Festival 2010, which runs from October 30th to November 6th.

"The Kerry Film Festival is committed to playing a leading role in providing a forum for emerging talent in film," said Jason O' Mahony, Director of the Kerry Film Festival. "This dedication is evidenced by both the quality of the films screened and the quality of adjudicators that select the winning films. Awards are given in a number of categories including Best Short Film, Best Irish Short, Best International Short, Best Documentary Short and Best Animated Short."

All prizes including Best Director will be selected by a jury of internationally renowned film professionals. Past adjudicators of the Kerry Film Festival Short Film Competition have included such luminaries as Jeremy Irons and Michael Fassbender in 2009, Liam Neeson in 2008 and Gabriel Byrne in 2007.

When asked what makes KFF special O' Mahony said, "I think having so many of the filmmakers on hand to speak about their films and their creative journey ensures a rewarding film festival experience for both the filmmaker and the audience. One of the advantages of KFF, I suppose, is that it's such an intimate little festival but the quality of the films and quality of the adjudicators consistently punches above its weight."

While the main focus of the festival will continue to be on shorts, this year sees an extension of the programme. "Last year was our most successful Festival so far," said O' Mahony. "We screened more films to more people in more venues that ever before and this year we're hoping to top that!" The 2009 edition of KFF saw 6,119 people attend screenings in more than twenty venues throughout Kerry.

The 2010 edition of KFF will also see more Education screenings, more active retired screenings and a larger workshop programme.

Entries should be sent to Kerry Film Festival, Unit 1, The Windmill Complex, Blennerville, Tralee, Co. Kerry by 1 August. Application forms are available online.