A FILM by transition year students from Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin in An Cheathrú Rua, is to be screened alongside work by such visionary directors as Werner Herzog and the late Derek Jarman at Wild-Screen.
Wild-Screen, an international art film festival will be held in the Inagh Valley, Connemara, on Saturday March 7 and Sunday 8. Screenings, by national and international artists, including Michael Craig Martin, Dorothy Cross, Walker and Walker, Aoife Desmond, and Maximillian Le Cain, will be shown in an industrial space, designed by the artists Scott Tallon and Walker.
The film by Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin students is a silent short made with Galway based artist and experimental filmmaker Vivienne Dick. Their collaboration goes back to October 2014 when Wild-Screen producers, Galway artists Louise Manifold and Úna Quigley, invited Dick to work with 10 transition year students from the school.
The students used Super-8 cameras to explore their local area and the project gave them an opportunity to take an experimental and visual approach to storytelling. “The idea was to introduce the magic of filmmaking and film precepts in a fun way,” said Dick. “Judging by the enthusiasm of the students it appeared to be a success.”
Sinéad Nic Stiofáin, deputy principal, Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin, described it as a “wonderful experience” for the young people. “An innovative experience like this for a teenager can often open the doors into the world of creativity and imagination, a concept often lost these days among teenagers,” she said. “The students really enjoyed the whole experience and are really looking forward to seeing it on screen.”
Wild-Screen is a free event and will include a guided nature walk; a discursive panel entitled A Wilderness of Elsewheres; and the launch of a book by curators Úna Quigley and Louise Manifold containing a range of texts and projects from film philosophers, artists, and writers.
For more information see www.wildscreenireland.com and Facebook.
