Galway Pitching Award 2010

The Galway Film Fleadh Pitching Award is now open for submissions.

The pitch should be a 500-word story idea for the screen, and each entry is reviewed by a panel selected from the film industry. The best five are short-listed.

The five writers are contacted and invited to present their pitch to a panel of judges. This takes place in front of an audience during the Galway Film Fleadh.

The winner of the competition receives €3,000, and the attention of the industry.

The deadline for applications is Friday 18th June 2010 and further details are available on the website. Each entry must be accompanied by a €30 fee.

Give me Direction II

After the success of last year's event, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board announced yesterday the return of the screenwriting event Give Me Direction, which will be run in association with the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

This year the focus of the conference will be on interrogating the topic of comedy in filmmaking. The two day event will be held on Thursday 17th and Friday 18th June in Dublin.

Further details of the event and the release date for tickets will be announced shortly.

Dublin Gay Theatre Festival 2010

The Dublin Gay Theatre Festival will be happening from May 3 - 16 in venues across Dublin City centre.

The programme of features, comedy and musical theatre includes Eight World Premières, Eight European Premières and Four Irish Premières. This year the festival includes productions from Ireland, UK, USA, Spain, South Africa and Australia, with a particular emphasis on new writing from emerging playwrights.

Highlights from the programme include The Laramie Project (USA) a play which recounts the brutal kidnap and murder of Mathew Sheppard, Kiss the Women (South Africa), a brave and deeply moving exploration of growing up as a black lesbian in South Africa, Loaded (USA) a no-holds barred look at internet sex, identity and ageism, Exiles (UK) a fresh and unique perspective on James Joyce's only play, Working Late (Ireland), a coming out comedy set in today’s economic crisis, Under the Rainbow (Ireland) a musical journey through the many lives of actress and entertainer Liza Minnelli and Drags Aloud (Australia) Joan Rivers support act that’s part Glee, part Scream, with a health dose of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Festival Director, Brian Merriman, said "This year we break through many barriers with our diverse programme of theatre that seeks to dialogue culturally with mainstream society." He added that festival was "delighted to welcome so many Irish companies to our programme this year. Playwrights as young as 18 year old Aaron Rogers were successful amongst the largest ever cohort of Irish applicants."

Stranger Than Fiction 2010

The Documentary Film Festival, Stranger than Fiction, kicks off today in the IFI in Dublin, with the première of Pyjama Girls directed by Maya Derrington. The film was produced by Maya and Nicky Gogan for Still Films, who will both be in attendance for a Q&A session afterwards.

Filmbase is hosting a free panel session "The Honest Truth: Ethics in Documentary" in Cinema 3 at 11am Friday 16th April, about how documentary filmmakers deal with the conflicting responsibilities to their subjects, their viewers and their own artistic visions.

Alan Maher, IFB Production Executive will chair this panel which will include Maya Derrington (Pyjama Girls), Dr. Harvey O'Brien (UCD), Ciarín Scott (Waiting for the Light) and Ken O'Shea (RTÉ). The session is a free, ticketed event, and tickets can be collected from the IFI box office.

The discussion is the first of a day-long series of free panel events taking place as part of the festival.

The following two days will features screenings of Irish and International documentaries.

Irish Pavilion in Cannes

Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) has announced that registration for membership of the Irish Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival 2010 is now open.

This year, the Irish Pavilion will retain its central position at the heart of the international village and will continue to offer vital business services to its members for the duration of the festival.

Registration is open only to Irish companies or individuals working in the Irish film industry.

Details on how to register are on the web site.

The deadline for application is Friday 9th April 2010 and membership of the Irish Pavilion is not Market or Festival Accreditation.

The Irish Pavilion is a Bord Scannán na hÉireann/ the Irish Film Board initiative.

Please note that there was an incorrect fax number listed on the official application form. All forms should be faxed to 091 561 405 (If have faxed your form to 01 6773394 you will need resend your application). The application form has now been amended and includes the correct fax number of 091 561 405.

Reel Art Awards 2010

The Arts Council has announced the three recipients of this year's Reel Art Awards:

* "The Door Ajar", Director Patrick Jolley
* "Build Something Modern", Directors Nicky Gogan and Paul Rowley
* "An Ear to the Earth", Director Pat Collins.

Making the announcement, Fionnuala Sweeney, Head of Film and International Arts at the Arts Council, said: “The Reel Art scheme is a very important one for the Arts Council. It demonstrates clearly the Arts Council’s wish to provide film artists with the opportunity to realise their artistic ambition in the making of challenging and engaging documentary films on the arts. We are delighted to be able to support three teams of highly talented film artists and look forward to seeing their distinctive creative work brought to audiences at next year’s Jameson Dublin International Film Festival”.

Grainne Humphreys, Festival Director of JDIFF, added “Reel Art is a serious addition to the funding programmes available in Ireland. Without the need to satisfy narrow broadcast requirements the scheme can make the kind of bold choices that often leads to the most exciting cinema. That’s certainly what we are striving for in these awards, and JDIFF are very much looking forward to premiering the films to a wide audience at next year’s festival.”

The three films will receive their world premieres at next year’s JDIFF before an expected international run of film festivals and theatrical exhibition.

Golden Blasters Script Competition

The Irish national science fiction convention, Octocon, has issued a call for scripts for its inaugural short script competition.

It's looking for fantasy, science fiction or horror short scripts, less than twenty pages, and in the usual format.

The fees for the competition are on a sliding scale depending on when the script is submitted:

May 31, 2010
Earlybird Deadline €10.00

July 31, 2010
Regular Deadline €15.00

August 31, 2010
Late Deadline €20.00

It has also issued a call for submissions for fantasy, science fiction and horror short films (under 15 minutes) for its second Short Film Competition.

The films that are short-listed will be screened at this year's convention (October 16-17), and will be judged at the event. There will be two awards: the Silver Blaster (audience award) and the Golden Blaster (jury award).

Belfast Film Festival Programme

The 10th Belfast Film Festival (15-30 April) has launched its programme.

The 10th Belfast Film Festival boasts over 30 UK/Irish premieres in a jam packed programme, with 125 screenings and events across Belfast from over 25 countries including, Russia, Japan, Iran, Argentina, Israel and South Africa, to name but a few.

The Festival opens on Thursday 15th April at the Moviehouse, Dublin Road with the UK/Irish Premiere of Triage starring man of the moment, Colin Farrell.

Closing night film of the 10th Belfast Film Festival, will be the UK/Ireland premiere of a film by one of Hollywood’s greatest directors-Francis Ford Coppola; Tetro starring Vincent Gallo is Coppola’s first original screenplay since The Conversation; this beautiful film, is shot in black and white and set in the bristling streets of Buenos Aires.

Dublin Film Fringe 2010

FilmmakersNetwork.ie is hosting the Dublin Film Fringe this Saturday the 6th of March at the Banquet Hall, 15-19 Essex Street West, Temple Bar.

Here is the schedule of events:

13:30 – 15:00 Cinematography Workshop | Banquet Hall, 15-19 Essex Street West, Temple Bar
IFTA nominated DOP Ruiarí O’Brien and Production Depot owner John Leahy talk about the various cameras and formats and when to choose one over the other. Another guest speaker to be confirmed. Followed by general chat and networking.

16:00 – 17:30 Shorts Screening 1 | Banquet Hall, 15-19 Essex Street West, Temple Bar

18:00 – 19:30 Shorts Screening 2 | Banquet Hall, 15-19 Essex Street West, Temple Bar

20:00 – Late! | Le Cirk (Sweeneys), Dame Street

* 21:00 Music Videos Screening (Free finger food / Drinks promo)
* 22:30 – 23:00 Awards Ceremony
* 23:00 DJ

Prices: The workshop and each of the screenings will cost €6 admission. Alternatively you can pay €10 which cover entrance to all 3 events. The Music video programme in Le Cirk is free and there will even be free finger food served!

JDIFF Awards 2010

The documentary His & Hers, written and directed by Ken Wardop, scooped the Audience Award at this year's Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

The winners of the Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards were also announced:

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE
Patrick O'Donnell
The Fading Light

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Tilda Swinton
I Am Love

BEST DOCUMENTARY
His and Hers
Written and directed by Ken Wardrop

BEST IRISH FILM
The Fading Light
Written and directed by Ivan Kavanagh

BEST DIRECTOR
Giorgos Lanthimos
Dogtooth

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Written by William M. Finkelstein and directed by Werner Herzog

BEST FILM
Samson and Delilah
Written and directed by Warwick Thornton

MICHAEL DWYER DISCOVERY
Kate McCullough

Berlin Film Awards 2010

Also this weekend the Berlin Film Festival announced its prize winners, and here are the categories of interest to our members:

Golden Bear for Best Film
Bal (Honey)
Co-written by Semih Kaplanoglu and Orçun Köksal, and directed by Semih Kaplanoglu

Silver Bear - The Jury Grand Prix
Eu cand vreau sa fluier, fluier (If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle)
co-written by Catalin Mitulescu and Florin Serban, and directed by Florin Serban

Silver Bear - Best Director
Roman Polanski
The Ghost Writer
Co-written by Robert Harris and Roman Polanski.

Silver Bear - Best Script
Wang Quan'an and Na Jin for
Tuan Yuan (Apart Together)
Directed by Wang Quan'an

IFB at Berlin

The Irish Film Board will have a stand (number 05) this year, with Film Holland, at the forthcoming European Film Market (Feb 11- 21) at Berlinale.

Simon Perry, Chief Executive, Alan Maher, Production Executive, and Louise Ryan, Marketing Executive of the IFB will be staffing the stand during the Market and will welcome appointments made in advance.

Their contact details are on the web site.

Listowel Workshops 2010

Listowel Writers Week is running a wide range of workshops during the festival, and two in particular might be of interest to our members.

Writing for Theatre with Michael Harding.

Finding your story. This workshop will deal with the following aspects of writing for theatre. What is the best starting point for a story? How do you examine and present characters and the world of the story? How do you shape your story, including how to structure and shape a play for theatre? What are the essential rules and principles of the craft, and of making your story work on the stage? How do you examine the personal and socio-political aspect of your story and how it must serve the requirements of the audience?

Entry free: €175.00 for each three-day workshop.

Writing for Screen with Paddy Breathnach.

This workshop will concentrate on the beginning of a screenplay. Refining the idea, exploring the central characters, describing the setting and identifying the tone.

Entry Fee: €175.00 for each three-day workshop.

Eamon Keane Play Competition

There are a myriad of writing competitions running for this year's Listowel Writers' Week, including the Eamon Keane Full Length Play competition.

Plays submitted should be for stage presentation only and should not have previously been staged. One act plays are not eligible. The prize is €1,000, and a €20.00 entry fee must accompany each submission.

The closing date for receipt of entries is: Friday 26th February 2010. Further details on how to apply are on the web site.

IFI Open Day

On Saturday, 6th of February the IFI is celebrating the refurbishment of its premises with a full day of free screenings.

Audiences will have the opportunity to check out the IFI's new and luxurious Cinema 3, the new look foyer, the brand new IFI Film Shop and our refurbished IFI Café Bar (not to mention the sparkling new bathrooms). All the free tickets are being released on the day at 11am and tickets are limited to four per person on a first come first served basis.

IFI Family, our monthly programme of quality family films, will be offering a first look at the hotly anticipated Ponyo; a wildly imaginative Japanese animation version of The Little Mermaid fairy tale from the Oscar-winning Studio Ghibli. Young people will also be catered for with a special IFI Teen Screen showing of Ghost World; a 2001 graphic-novel inspired cult favourite featuring a young Scarlett Johansson.

A preview of Crazy Heart includes an Oscar-tipped performance from Jeff Bridges; the subject of an extensive season at the IFI in February. Another heavyweight Oscar contender A Single Man, former-Gucci designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut featuring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore,will also be previewing on Open Day.

There will also be a chance to see some classics back on the big screen including the great screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby with Katherine Hepburn, the definitive Herzog documentary Grizzly Man, Kubrick's masterful 2001: A Space Odyssey on 70mm, and there will be a very rare chance to see Leo McCarey’s exceptional Make Way for Tomorrow on 16mm from 1937. There will also be a chance to sample two themed selections of material from the IFI Irish Film Archive; Welcome to the Emerald Isle: A Selection of Travel Films and Colm O Laoghaire Shorts.

A special discount on IFI Membership will apply on the Open Day. It's a great way to keep up with the latest releases and seasons, as well as benefitting from free tickets, special free Members’ Previews, discounts throughout the IFI, and double IFI Loyalty points.

Tickets for all films will be available on the day from 11am - in person only - and will be restricted to 4 tickets per person. Arrive early as tickets for the full day are expected to go quickly.

iad-T in the Park, January

The January iad-T in the Park takes place this Saturday 30th January, at the Tea Rooms in the People's Park in Dun Laoghaire. The event is hosted by Mia Gallagher, writer-in-residence at the IADT, and the theme is: Murder on the Bookshelves (crime fiction).

12noon: Writing the Dark Side (workshop). A fun workshop exploring how to get the most out of your dark side, structure suspense and play with horror and thriller motifs.

2pm: Readings & discussion by Declan Hughes and other crime writers.

JDIFF Programme Launched

Last night the programme for the 8th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival (18th – 28th February) was launched at Dublin's Tripod bar on Harcourt Street.

The festival will open with the European premiere of Neil Jordan's new film Ondine, starring Colin Farrell, a very special event with Jordan and Farrell attending the screening. Highlights in this year's festival include a season celebrating Kristin Scott Thomas' French film work, including the Irish premiere of her new film Partir; three films featuring Patricia Clarkson: Whatever Works, Shutter Island and Cairo Time, which Clarkson will attend; as well as the Closing Gala I Am Love with director Luca Guadagnino and actor Tilda Swinton attending. Other guests include Ciarán Hinds (Life During Wartime), and directors Kirk Jones (Everybody's Fine), Leslie Zemeckis (Behind the Burly Q), Samuel Maoz (Lebanon), Sally Potter (Orlando) and Academy Award winner Fernando Trueba (The Dancer and the Thief).

Commenting on the programme, Festival Director Gráinne Humphreys said:

"I'm delighted to unveil this years JDIFF programme, and I am proud of the wonderful line up of films and events which makes up this much anticipated event. I believe that we have put together a truly dazzling array of films from around the world. With special seasons from Russia and Korea, an increased focus on documentary and classic films, our Irish film season, a retrospective of Kenneth Anger, a celebration of the film music of Nino Rota, and new films from famed filmmakers such Werner Herzog, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton and Woody Allen, I hope we have found something for everyone. We acknowledge our friend and colleage Michael Dwyer by dedicating this year's festival to his memory and by presenting a season of films to celebrate his life"

This year sees two major foreign language seasons, Russian and Korean. The Russian Season will challenge perception of Russian cinema, and includes screenings of Sundance award-winning Mermaid; spiritual parableThe Island, and the film that has been described as the Iron Curtain version of Hairspray, the colourful and lively Hipsters! The festival will also see a screening of the iconic film Russian Ark, a film shot in just one take in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, screened in the National Gallery of Ireland. The Korean Season will include South Korea's Academy Award submission Mother; the original and quirky Castaway on the Moon and gangster film Breathless, considered by many to be one of the best Korean films in years.

The Irish Talent Spotlight, now in its third year and run in association with the Irish Film Board, will platform director Conor Horgan who will be showing two films at the festival, the word premiere of documentary The Beholder and the feature film One Hundred Mornings; IFTA nominated actor Darren Healy, whose film Savage will be screened at the festival and cinematographer Kate McCullough with Sundance acclaimed His & Hers. Conor, Darren and Kate will also participate in a panel discussion on representations of Ireland on screen, along with Sundance's Director of Programming Trevor Groth, amongst others.

Special events as part of the festival include a retrospective on iconic film artist Kenneth Anger; Retour de Flamme, a silent film event by the 'Indiana Jones of the moving image', Serge Bromberg, who collates a film from archive footage screened along to his live score; an Out of the Past season of films including Orlando, for which director Sally Potter will attend, and La Dolce Vita, which will whet audience's appetite for the DIT symphony Orchestra presentation of works by Nino Rota in the National Concert Hall.

Continuing a strong tradition for documentary screenings, the Real to Reel season will feature the Arts Council Reel Art Documentaries The Beholder by Conor Horgan; Outliving Dracula: Le Fanu's Carmilla by Fergus Daly and Katherine Waugh; and Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien by Sé Merry Doyle, as well as Doors' documentary When You're Strange, First Appearance Award winner at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam, Colony, and the stunning La Danse which follows the Paris Opera Ballet, amongst many others.

The festival also offers viewers a special opportunity to get a First Look at some of the most exciting films of the forthcoming year, such as Drew Barrymore's first feature Whip It!, Atom Egoyan's new film Chloe, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland 3D and Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant, as well as offering the chance to see exciting new cinema with the Discovery season such as the multi award winning Revanche by Götz Spielmann and the rich and memorable Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story.

The festival will present a season of screenings as a tribute to the co-founder Michael Dwyer, who passed away in January. Michael truly celebrated cinema, and this selection of films including My Beautiful Laundrette and The Best of Youth, pays testament to his passion. The 2010 festival is dedicated to his memory.

Presenting over 100 films from over 30 countries, 7 of them world premieres, with archive and premiere screenings, special guests, discussions and unique events, all over an action packed 11 days.

Michael Dwyer RIP

Michael Dwyer, the film correspondent of the Irish Times, died on Friday, January 1st, at the age of 58, following an illness that began after his last trip to the Cannes Film Festival.

Today the Irish Times published a series of reminiscences about Mr. Dwyer by Irish actors and directors, as well as a tribute by Hugh Linehan.

Mr. Dwyer made a significant contribution to the establishment of film criticism in Ireland, the promotion of local talent, and as one of the co-founders the Dublin Film Festival in 1985 he helped aid a wider appreciation for global cinema in the country.

His funeral Mass will take place Tuesday morning at 11am in the Church of the Holy Name, Beechwood Avenue, Ranelagh, and afterwards to Mount Jerome Crematorium.

Mr. Dwyer is survived by his partner of 24 years, Brian Jennings, and his mother Mary and sisters Anne and Maria. Our sincere condolences for their loss.

Dublin Film Fringe

The online forum FilmmakersNetwork.ie is taking submissions for the inaugural festival, the Dublin Film Fringe.

Short film entries should be:

• Under 20 minutes long - the shorter the better!
• Made in the previous 2 years
• Made in Ireland and/or by Irish filmmakers
• Be submitted on DVD with the completed application form. You should send in a DVD copy of your film for preview purposes and also a Quicktime/AVI of the film on disc.
• When projecting the selected films we will be playing the films from a hard drive or a DVD compilation and supplying the Quicktime/AVI file of the film will help preserve the quality of your film. Please use a common codec to encode your Quicktime/AVI version of your film. H-264 / DV PAL / etc.
• If you are unable to obtain a Quicktime/AVI version of the film we can pull your film from the DVD copy but this will result in a drop in quality.

The closing date for submissions is January 23rd 2010.

If you like to volunteer to work on the festival go to the forum thread on how you can get involved.

London Festival Fringe 2010

Next year will see the first London Festival Fringe, which will run from August 6- 30, and place it in direct competition with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Director Greg Tallent said, "London is the world's greatest art centre, drawing performers from around the globe. We want to bring together fringe artists to give audiences innovative acts in one place at one time - in every sphere, from comedy and drama to music, film and street theatre.

"In July 2009 we organised the London Bridge Festival, which was a great success. It's now time to bring together London's fringe scene and give it the international recognition it deserves."

The London Festival Fringe is being held in August to offer art and entertainment to Londoners and the large number of tourists who visit the city in the summer. In particular, London Festival Fringe allows artists and promoters living and working in London to put on shows and events to audiences on their doorsteps, at a price they can afford without earnings being eaten up by travel and accommodation costs.

Perhaps in response to this new festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has announced that it will freeze its participation fees at the 2008 prices, despite an expected grant cut of 4% from various arts organisations.