THE closing date for entries for Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year 2019, Ireland’s festival celebrating young filmmakers from Ireland and overseas, is January 25, 2019.
Now in its 22nd year, Fresh Film Festival encourages young people from Ireland and overseas, aged 7 to 18 years, to create, exhibit and share films. The festival provides an opportunity for these young filmmakers to see their work on the big screen and to compete for the title of Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year and to win €1000 towards their next film.
All films submitted are also considered for a range of Specialist Awards including the Radharc Trust Award for documentaries, the Boulder Media Animation Award, the RTE 60 Second Short Film Award, the TG4 Film in the Irish Language award and the RTE Factual Award, in addition to the International and Audience awards.
The Festival has Junior, Senior and International categories for individual and group projects. Young filmmakers can enter as independents, as part of their school or in a group. Films must be original and can be up to 15 minutes duration for Seniors or 10 minutes duration for Juniors.
Fresh Film Festival Director and Founder Jayne Foley said, “We are looking forward to great things from our 2019 crop of films. We have met young filmmakers through our workshops and our other projects and we have seen them come up through the Junior and Senior competitions and we think they are ready to knock us out with their next production.”
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Senior films will be screened at one of the Regional Heats, which take place in Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Limerick during February and early March. The Senior and Junior finalists’ films will be screened during Fresh Film Festival 2019 from March 25 – 30 in Limerick. The awards will be announced at the final screenings on March 27 and 28.
“Are you one of these young filmmakers? Or are you a new talent whom we haven’t yet met? When you make films you develop and hone skills and you understand how films are constructed. Understanding the basic building blocks of storytelling, camera and editing will stand you in good stead in the media-driven future”, ms Foley said.
Fresh Film Festival runs a number of initiatives throughout the year, including a Hothouse programme designed to bring young people together to share their film experiences and create new work, Fresh Blood horror film workshop, You Judge It school juries and the young programmer project. It also distributes Irish films made by young people to festivals all over the world and has devised film programmes for the classroom.
“We are seeking filmmakers, the makers of dreams, and the ones who challenge us with their alternative vision and the ones who show a mastery of the art. We give you this gentle nudge again. Write your story. Grab your camera. Get your friends or your classmates or do it on your own. We await the new crop. We look forward to the harvest,” Jayne concluded.
The full festival programme will be available shortly. Further details and applications forms can be found at www.freshfilmfestival.com.
