Young filmmakers hit the road
YOUNG FILMMAKERS from County Wexford will be hitting the road this coming weekend as they travel down to Youghal for the annual First Cut Youth Film Festival.
Fimmakers here are making a name for themselves within the Irish national filmmaking industry as a result of what they are creating through the Wexford Youth Film Project ( WYFP), which operates out of St. Michael’s Theatre, in New Ross.
Last month, four of their films were selected for screening at The Point Odeon in Dublin and that was followed up by two films being shortlisted for the national finals of the Fresh Film Festival - which took place in Limerick towards the end of the month.
To reach the finals was a major achievement as the organisers highlighted there were over 1,400 submissions from across the country.
The two Wexford films, ‘Imaginings’ and ‘Where are you now?’. were screened in a sold-out, 500-seat cinema, much to the delight of everyone involved in making them.
The latter film, a music video, is now in line for even more success as it’s one of two WYFP works to be selected for the First Cut Youth Film Festival, which will be held in Youghal this coming weekend.
The screening will take place on Saturday, April 28; the other film selected is a short horror movie called, ‘ The Darkness’.
It’s a film that plays on people’s fear of the dark while ‘Where are you now?’, examines issues around cyber-bullying.
It’s great news for the WYFP to have two films selected for the festival, which is one of the most prestigious events of its type in the country.
The filmmaking workshops in which the two films were created were facilitated by Therese Dalton. Speaking to this newspaper she complimented everyone involved in creating them and said they were very enthusiastic in their approach.
‘We should be very proud of our young filmmakers in County Wexford,’ she said.
‘ They are extremely talented and brimming with brilliant ideas,’ she added.
She went on to comment that everyone is now looking forward to the trip to Youghal and highlighted that last year’s trip proved very beneficial for the Wexford contingent.
‘Last year, our young filmmakers were invited on to a panel to discuss their films and were fortunate to meet Peter Foote, the director and writer of ‘ The Young Offenders,’ she said.
The WYFP filmmaking workshops, which are free to access, are ongoing in St Michael’s Theatre and are open to people from all over the county.
The workshops are funded by The Arts Department of Wexford County Council. Anybody interested in taking part can find out more by emailing wexfordyouthfilm@gmail.com