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MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival

Calls for Short Films From Irish Filmmakers in the World’s Very First Global Film Festival

Over 250 cinemas spanning 6 continents unite for One Week for One Film Festival.

Cinemas and theatres in Ireland invited to take part

Contact: Nicholas Mason. info@ManhattanShort.com Web: www.ManhattanShort.com

Press Inquiries: RMTPR Management : 00 1 212 414 1909

New York, NY, March 2nd, 2010 - New York City’s MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival has issued a call for entries from filmmakers to represent Ireland to an audience of over 100,000 film lovers in over 250 cities spanning 6 continents. The festival runs the week of Sunday, September 26th to Sunday, October 3rd, 2010. Entry deadline is July 31, 2010.

Each year the MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival selects twelve short films from twelve separate countries and distributes them to over 250 cinemas spanning six continents, including cinemas in all fifty states of the USA. It is the world’s first global film festival. Audience members at each cinema are handed a voting card upon entry and asked to vote for the one film they think is best. Votes are then sent to the MANHATTAN SHORT’s headquarters in New York City where the winner is announced on Sunday, October the 3rd at 10:00 pm EST.

In 2009, the Festival conducted 595 shows in 173 cities spanning 5 continents in one week. This year the Fest expects to add 50 additional cinemas as well as another continent so well over 600 shows in one week are planned for the 2010 Festival.

“For a filmmaker with a short film, the MANHATTAN SHORT is a unique opportunity to showcase your film to an unprecedented international audience. A festival not just taking place in over 250 cities in the world, but also being judged by audiences in places such as, Ayers Rock Australia, Beijing, Moscow, Buenos Aires and all 50 states of the USA. If you win that crowd over, you must be doing something right,” said Festival’s founding director Nicholas Mason.

Films must be produced in 2009-2010 and be no longer than 18 minutes. For more information and entry forms go to www.ManhattanShort.com.

Festival invites venues in Ireland to join MANHATTAN SHORT

MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival is also inviting cinemas, theatres and venues with digital projection in Ireland to represent their country in this event. Deadline for venues to book dates is June 30th, 2010.

For more information please contact the MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival via email at info@ManhattanShort.com.

“A challenging, thought-provoking debut that compassionately questions the relevance of celibacy in the Catholic Church” - The Hollywood Reporter

Written and directed by John Deery, and inspired by true events, Conspiracy of Silence highlights the Church’s present-day dilemma on its position on celibacy. Featuring a superb ensemble cast including Academy Award winner Brenda Fricker, Sean McGinley, John Lynch and Hugh Bonneville, the film also includes a cameo from the legendary Irish chat show host, Gay Byrne.

How far will the Catholic Church go to cover up its own hypocrisy? Conspiracy of Silence tells the story of a young trainee priest torn between the love for his girlfriend and his vocation to the Catholic Church. Set in contemporary Ireland, the film begins with two seemingly unrelated events: the suicide of beloved and well-respected Father Frank Sweeney, and the expulsion of a young seminary student, Daniel McLaughlin.

When local investigative reporter, David Foley, aggressively pursues the two stories, he begins to uncover a shocking secret that links both incidents and leads directly to the highest ranks of the Catholic Church.

Conspiracy of Silence is a provocative and timely drama that exposes the impact of celibacy – an issue the Catholic Church remains reluctant to address.

View Trailer: www.conspiracyofsilence.co.uk

Winner of Best Irish Film and Best Actor at the Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards

The IFI to exclusively release The Fading Light; Ivan Kavanagh’s award-winning new Irish feature from March 12th-18th

The IFI has announced the exclusive release of The Fading Light, from fiercely independent up-and-coming Irish director Ivan Kavanagh, as part of its ongoing commitment to new Irish film. On Saturday, during Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, the film won Best Irish Film and Best Actor for Patrick O’Donnell’s performance at the Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards. After this huge endorsement from all the major Irish film critics, the IFI release will provide an opportunity for the film to be seen by a wide audience and for people to engage with Kavanagh’s distinctive style and working methods.

A study of a family in crisis, Ivan Kavanagh’s fifth feature, produced by AnneMarie Naughton, is an intense affair, by turns touching, fierce and chilling. Returning home to their widowed and dying mother, two estranged daughters become reacquainted with a house of difficult memories. Their brother, disabled and dependent, faces an uncertain future and his predicament tests the sisters’ affection and empathy. The turmoil created by the approach of death intensifies the relationships, and an already fragmented family slides towards disintegration.

There are moments of reprieve, when a straightforward kind of love seems possible; and Kavanagh’s editing offers glimpses of peace, particularly in the final stages of the mother’s agonising illness. Shot with a lucid intimacy by Kavanagh’s regular cinematographer, Colin Downey, the film also boasts brilliant performances from a cast which includes Valene Kane, Emma Eliza Regan, Bibi Larrson and Patrick O’Donnell.

The emotionally visceral style that has become Kavanagh’s trademark springs from the rigorous background work on each character undertaken by his actors before the plot is revealed to them, step-by-step during filming. The IFI will also show another recent Kavanagh feature Our Wonderful Home (2008) on Saturday 13th March at 2.30pm. Following that there will be an in-depth discussion with the director and members of The Fading Light cast at 4pm.

The Fading Light is presented in association with Bord Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board and Park Films.

Tickets are available from the IFI Box Office in person, on 01 679 3477, or online at www.ifi.ie

His & Hers wins Audience Award at the 8th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival

Ken Wardop’s documentary His & Hers scooped the Audience Award at the 2010 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, which ended on Sunday 28th February. The film also won best documentary in the Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards and cinematographer Kate McCullough was awarded their inaugural Michael Dwyer Discovery Award.

Commenting on the Audience Award, Andrew Freedman, Producer of His & Hers said: “We were thrilled by the tremendous reception His & Hers received at this year’s Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. To win the audience award is ‘icing on the cake’ and a huge endorsement for our film. We would like to thank the festival for its continued commitment to showcasing Irish film and for a wonderful eleven days of film extravagances. Audiences will have an opportunity to see His & Hers this summer when it goes on nationwide release”.

Other Dublin Film Critics Circle winners were the Australian film Samson and Delilah as Best Film; Best Irish Film went to Ivan Kavanagh’s The Fading Light, and Best Actor (Male) went to Patrick O’Donnell, for his role as a special needs adult in the same film; whilst Best Actor (Female) went to Tilda Swinton for her role in I Am Love.

The festival welcomed an impressive array of film talent to Dublin, with the closing weekend seeing Kristin Scott Thomas attending a screening of Partir; Kenneth Anger attending the retrospective of his work in the IFI; Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall at Alice in Wonderland and Tilda Swinton in for the closing gala I Am Love.

There were three recipients of the festival career achievement award, the Volta – Ciarán Hinds, Patricia Clarkson and Kristin Scott Thomas, who all attended the festival to receive the accolade. Commenting on the Volta awards, Festival Director Gráinne Humphreys said: “all three honourees move effortlessly between charismatic leading roles and scene stealing supporting turns, they light up the screen in every role.”

The festival will return in February 2011 with another amazing line up of films, guests and special events to thrill audiences, including the very special Surprise Film, which this year was Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg starring Ben Stiller.

The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival is grant aided by The Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon and would also like to acknowledge support from its funders and sponsors The Irish Film Board/ Bord Scannán na hÉireann, MEDIA Programme of the European Union, The Irish Times The Ticket, Cineworld, The Merrion Hotel, Renault, Entertainment.ie, Windmill Lane and FM104.

Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
Web: www.jdiff.com

Dingle Film Festival will welcome RED to the first annual Irish Red Users’ Gathering in Dingle on Saturday March 20th in The Phoenix Cinema.

Dingle is certainly competing to be different as it welcomes Alan Piper, Operations Director of RED Europe, who will be showcasing the newly upgraded RED One Camera, with Mysterium-X Sensor, as well as premiering RED’s 4K M-X Show Reel on JVC’s new 4K Projector, supplied by HoloVis UK. Again a first for Ireland!

The festival are also delighted to welcome Laura Castelli from ASSIMILATE showing their real-time 4K grading solution – SCRATCH.

To compliment this unique event the DFF are compiling an Irish 4k Show Reel and are looking for suitable RED material, preferably 4K, to be included in the Show Reel. If you would like to submit footage for consideration, please contact brian.nolan@fas.ie for more information as soon as possible.

In keeping with the RED theme the festival is also delighted to welcome Apple to Dingle where they will be presenting Final Cut Studio - RED workflow seminar. This two-hour seminar will guide you through the basic workflow of using RED footage with Final Cut Studio. Footage will be taken into Final Cut Pro, passed through to Color and back to Final Cut Pro again as advantages of Pro Res and RED raw footage are discussed. The presenter will be on-hand with a Euphonix MC Color Control to show the advantages of working on Color with this control surface.

Continuing with this amazing line-up DFF will also present The Power of Sound with double Oscar™ winner, Tom Johnson and Easy DCP with Heiko Sparenberg.

Brendan Tuohy will chair a discussion on ‘The Future of Film in Ireland’. The Irish Film Board has recently set up a group to look at developing a strategy for the future of the Irish Film and Audiovisual Industry. This group is drawn from the industry itself and the relevant Government Departments and agencies. It is hoped that the group will chart a strategy to double the size of the sector over a period of about five years with an increased emphasis on exports.

DFF would also like to give a special welcome to the many Irish Apple Authorized Training Centers and Trainers that will visit Dingle for their 2010 AATC/e Irish conference. These seminars have been organized by the Dingle Film Festival, in conjunction with the FÁS: TV & Video Production Unit, Tralee.

For further information Contact:

Brian Nolan, FÁS: Tralee TV & Video Production Unit brian.nolan@fas.ie 066-7149679

Or

Maurice Galway, CEO/Artistic Director Dingle Film Festival Maurice@dinglefilmfestival.com 087 9139962

The 2010 Dingle Film Festival runs from 18th to 21st March 2010 throughout venues on the scenic Dingle Peninsula.

The Dingle Film Festival is now in its fourth year, and has already played host to many well known names from the film industry, including Sir Alan Parker, Gabriel Byrne, Sarah Miles, Saoirse Ronan, Garrett Brown and Jim Sheridan.

www.dinglefilmfestival.com

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 covers entrance to all 3 events. The Music video programme in Le Cirk is free and there will be free finger food served!

NB Deadline 1st April is for ONLINE applications ONLY. Hard copy applications must be submitted by 5.30pm on Thursday 25 March 2010.

Maximum awarded: €50,000

Art area: Film

Audience type: Individual artist, Organisation

Collaborative application possible? No

Telephone: 01 618 0200

Email: awards@artscouncil.ie

Application Info:
The Award Guidelines can be downloaded from the Arts Council website HERE>

The Arts Council will shortly be launching a new online services website which will allow for applications to be submitted entirely online. You will be able to upload a wide range of support materials in electronic format along with your application form.

The application form for project awards will only be available through the online services website. You will be able to access the online services website from 11 March 2010. You will access the site through the home page of the Arts Councils website.

In the meantime you can download a sample of the form from the Arts Council website HERE>

PLEASE NOTE: Before you will be able to make an online application you will have to register with the site. It may take up to five days for your registration to be confirmed so it is very important that you register as early as possible.

Make sure to visit the Arts Council website, www.artscouncil.ie, for the complete application guidelines and procedures.

Hollywood Screenwriting: Jumping The First Hurdle
Friday 26th of March
1.00 - 3.30pm

In Hollywood, thousands of scripts land on the desks of producers, agents, actors and studio executives every day - how can you make sure that yours makes it past the first hurdle? This hurdle is actually a person - a script reader - and he or she can be many things: a stressed assistant, a summer intern, or - if you’re lucky - someone who has spent years analyzing scripts and can recognize talent and potential when they see it.

This two to three hour workshop with experienced story analyst/editor James Bartlett will talk about the business of script reading, the differences between the US and UK film industries, and the ways to break into the US market.

This lecture will give you industry information and tips that will make your script a more professional and sellable product. Whether you are applying for funding, entering a competition or sending off writing samples, this lecture will help your script jump the first hurdle. Most importantly it will discuss the “Unlucky/Lucky 13″ common but deadly mistakes that screenwriters make - and are instant killers for a reader. These 13 mistakes will include discussion of simple-to-fix problems such as formatting and presentation to transitions and evoking emotion, as well as a number of others.

Following this - time permitting - there would be discussion of story ideas by the writers themselves in a “Hollywood style” pitch session.

Every writer has spent weeks, months and years working on their script, and now it’s finally ready to go out into the world: this lecture will give you the “Unlucky/Lucky 13″ mistakes to make sure that it doesn’t fall at the first hurdle.

YOUR SPEAKER: JAMES BARTLETT
James Bartlett is a writer and journalist living in Los Angeles. He is also a story analyst for the Sundance Institute, National Geographic Films, New Regency, UCLA and the Academy of Motion Pictures’ Nicholl Screenwriting Awards, the US consultant for Euroscript, and a reader for several regional funders in the UK and Ireland.

Cost: €40 for members/ €55 for non-members
Venue: Filmbase, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Date: 1 - 3.30pm, Friday 26th March

TO BOOK:
All booking must be made in advance at Filmbase reception. Call by in person during office hours (Mon - Fri, 9.30am to 5.30pm) or ring 01 679 6716.

For more info on all of the Training available at Filmbase visit www.filmbase.ie/training. Courses are available in a wide range of areas including scriptwriting, camera & lighting, directing, acting, sound, editing (Final Cut Pro), post-production effects, multimedia applications (Photoshop, Illustrator) and much, much more!

Richard Baneham, from Tallaght in Dublin, and three of his colleagues, Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum and Andrew R Jones, won the Special Visual Effects award for ‘Avatar’ at last Sunday’s BAFTAs in London. Baneham, a graduate of Ballyfermot College of Further Education’s animation school, has already worked on two Lord of the Rings films and the first Narnia film. Baneham and his colleagues are also nominated for an Oscar in the Best Visual Effects category.

At the BAFTAS, ‘The Hurt Locker’ was the big winner at the awards, winning in six categories. The Iraq War drama took the Best Film award and its director, Kathryn Bigelow, won Best Director. ‘The Hurt Locker’ also won the awards for Best Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing and Sound.

Colin Firth won Best Actor for ‘A Single Man’, while Carey Mulligan was Best Actress for ‘An Education’. The award for Best Supporting Actor went to Christoph Waltz for ‘Inglourious Basterds’, with Mo’Nique named Best Supporting Actress for ‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire’.

‘Fish Tank’ was named Outstanding British Film while ‘Moon’ director Duncan Jones won the award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.

‘Up’ won the award for Best Animated Film, while ‘A Prophet’ won the award for Best Film Not in the English Language.

‘Twilight’ star Kristen Stewart won the Orange Rising Star Award, which was voted for by the public.

The winners of the 7th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards have been announced at a gala ceremony held in Dublin’s Burlington Hotel on 20th of February 2010. Conor McPherson’s ‘The Eclipse’ was named Best Film.

The Eclipse was named Best Film, also picking up IFTAs for Actor in a Supporting Role Film Aidan Quinn and Script Film Conor McPherson & Billy Roche. Actors Colin Farrell and Dervla Kirwan won the Actor in a Lead Role Film and Actress in a Supporting Role Film awards for their performances in Neil Jordan’s Ondine. Irish talent working in the international arena were also well recognised at the ceremony with Jim Sheridan announced the winner of the Director Film Award for Brothers, and actress Saoirse Ronan winning the Actress in a Lead Role Film IFTA for her performance in Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones.

Five Minutes of Heaven won the IFTA for Single Drama/ Drama Serial, whilst The Clinic picked up the award for Best Drama Series / Soap. Irish director Thaddeus O’Sullivan was named Best Director Television for his work on Into the Storm, with its lead actor Brendan Gleeson winning the IFTA for Actor in a Lead Role Television for his performance as Winston Churchill in the HBO Drama. Harper’s Island star Elaine Cassidy won the Actress in a Lead Role Television award, with the Supporting Actress and Actor Television IFTAs going to Sarah Bolger for The Tudors and Stephen Rea for Father & Son respectively. Screenwriter of Father & Son, the late Frank Deasy, was announced the winner of the Script Television IFTA, Frank’s widow Marie Deasy accepted on his behalf.

A broad range of projects were lauded in the craft categories, with both film and television projects honoured for their excellence behind the scenes. Ondine picked up two more IFTAs for their Sound team and Production Designer, Anna Rackard. Other craft winners included Consolata Boyle for her Costume Design work on Cheri, Suzie Lavelle for Director of Photography on One Hundred Mornings; Mairead McIvor for her Editing work on Savage; TV drama The Take won the Makeup and Hair award andthe Original Score IFTA went to Brian Byrne for his work on Zonad.

In television genre categories, The Apprentice picked up the Entertainment IFTA for the second year running, with productions Nightly News with Vincent Browne and the TV3 News at 5.30 winning the Factual and News IFTAs respectively. Best Sport was won by Grand Slam Journey.

In documentary and current affairs, Ken Wardrop’s His & Hers won the George Morrison Feature Documentary Award, whilst Documentary Series was presented to Blood of the Irish. The Single documentary IFTA was awarded to Seamus Heaney: Out of the Marvellous and The Frontline received the IFTA for Current Affairs.

Tomm Moore, director of the Oscar nominated animated feature The Secret of Kells was named the 2010 Irish Film Board Rising Star, with his film also picking up the Best Animation honours.

Runners took the IFTA for short film whilst Rásaí na Gaillimhe received the Special Irish Language award. On the Block scooped the IFTA for Children’s/Youth Programme.

In the international categories, the Irish Academy voted The Hurt Locker Best International Film with Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes) and Meryl Streep (It’s Complicated) winning both the International Actor and Pantene International Actress Awards for the second year in a row.

Finally, Brendan Gleeson, Jon Voight and Juliette Binoche presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to producer/director/writer John Boorman.

For a full list of all the nominees and winners visit www.ifta.ie.