News

First Cut! Youth Film Festival 2014

The First Cut! Youth Film Festival will be based in the Mall Arts Centre in Youghal this year and will run from Thursday, 27th February to Saturday, 1st March.

The festival offers an exciting opportunity for young filmmakers, aged 12- 21 years, to gather together in a vibrant festival atmosphere for a rare chance to network and showcase their work.

As well as the screenings of works by young filmmakers, the Festival will also include workshops, performances and the rare opportunity for budding filmmakers to learn from, and engage with, professional filmmakers. Panel discussions, Q&A sessions and hands-on workshops will take place in the Mall Arts Centre and in a variety of other locations during the Festival.

The Festival will be opened by Killinascully star, Pascal Scott on Thursday evening at 6.30 pm in the Mall Arts Centre and everyone is invited! Seven short films will be shown to whet your appetite for what promises to be a great weekend of film.

Friday, is schools day with the focus on primary school pupils in the morning and secondary school pupils in the afternoon.

There is a full programme on Saturday for young film makers starting at 10.30 am in the Mall Arts Centre. The morning will be devoted to fictional shorts where short films will be screened and then there will be a Q&A session with Mark Cogan, writer and director, Ruth Hayes, actor, writer and director and Dan O’Connell, writer and director and lecturer on the BA in Film and Screen Media in UCC.

The afternoon sessions will kick off at 1.00 pm with a screening of animation films followed by an interactive talk by Jane Lee, award winning animation director. Then, at 3.00 pm, the session will explore the world of documentary film making with Max Le Cain, filmmaker, cinephile and film critic and there will be a screening of international documentaries made by young people.

The final session starting at 5.00 pm will focus on music videos and will be hosted by Shaun O’Connor who has won awards at various festivals and has also directed numerous music videos.

There is also an Acting for Camera workshop for young people aged 12 – 21 years with Mark Cogan and Ruth Hayes. This is a great opportunity to attend a fun, on camera, interactive workshop where participants will get the opportunity to develop their communication skills. The workshop is free but participants have to book in advance through emailing firstcutfilm@gmail.com and telling them why you want to take part in the workshop.

For more information about the films and everything else go to: www.firstcutfilmfestival.com/FESTIVAL-PROGRAMME-.html

All enquiries can be emailed to Mary Mc Grath who is Coordinator of the First Cut! Film Project at: firstcutfilm@gmail.com or 086 8139019.

There is also a fantastic Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/pages/First-CutYouth-Film-Project-Festival/127337763985353 where you can watch short films made my young people in Cork over the past few years made with the support of SECAD, Cork County Council, the Arts Council and Cork Film Centre.