YOUNG GALWEGIANS who are passionate about films and writing, and who have an idea for a story, are being asked to submit that story idea for this year's Junior Galway Film Fleadh Storytelling Competition.
The competition, run in association with Galway Film Centre and SpunOut.ie, is open to those aged between 10 and 18. Entrants are invited to write a short (max 500 words ) idea for a for a feature film, short film, TV series, documentary, web series, video game, animation, or combined media project.
Entrants are encouraged to begin by drafting their idea, before practicing it in front of family and friends, because, should the idea be one of the three shortlisted, you will be invited to present it in the Town Hall Theatre to an assembled audience and jury on Friday November 10. This year’s prize will be a drama or animation summer camp sponsored by Galway Film Centre, which will include one year’s membership to the Centre (allowing entry to the RTE short script award ).
Cait Ní Niallain was the winner of the first script competition, and according to the budding film-maker the Junior Film Fleadh Script Competition had a bearing on her future.
“I went on to the BA Connect with Film Studies at NUIG where I studied film as well as English and history," she says. "As part of our semester abroad programme I went to Drexel University in Philadelphia where I studied film and video. This school of film provided me with two more screenwriting modules which helped me produce other creative work. The Junior Film Fleadh pointed me in the right direction."
Offering some advice to this year’s competition entrants, Junior Film Fleadh programmer Gar O'Brien said: “With its spiralling budgets, massive CGI landscapes, digitally realised superheroes and multimedia tie-ins it’s easy to forget that cinema, above all else, still relies on a good story to be successful. The art of good storytelling is a powerful skill and one that needs to be cherished, developed, and shared."
The closing date for all entries is Wednesday October 26. Entries can be sent to Junior Galway Film Fleadh Storytelling Competition, 36D Merchants Dock, Merchants Road, Galway or emailed to [email protected] (subject box Storytelling Competition ). Entry forms are available from www.galwayfilmfleadh.com
