Galway Film Centre, in collaboration with RTÉ, has announced that Friday March 11 will be the deadline for this year’s Short Film Awards. Two scripts will be selected from the submissions received and the two winning entries will each receive a sum of €9,500 to make their film. In addition Galway Film Centre will provide equipment and facilities and RTÉ will screen the finished film. If you are interested contact Galway Film Centre at 091 770 748 or email info@galway filmcentre.ie for an application form plus full details of how to submit your script.
The awards aim to develop new film-making talent in Ireland and the competition attracts submissions from aspiring writers and directors nationally. Galway Film Centre has been running these awards in partnership with RTÉ since 1998 and the competition provides a great opportunity for new talent to emerge and gain exposure. Recent short films have done particularly well on the film festival circuit both nationally and internationally with last year Passing by David Freyne winning the 2010 Kerry Film Festival Best Short Film/Best Director Awards, and the Audience Award for best Irish Short at Cork Film Festival. This short was also screened at the 2010 Palm Springs International ShortFest and the 2010 Galway Film Fleadh.
Galway Film Centre is also hosting a special event to showcase the awards, and has invited directors and writers to discuss the process and to screen a selection of the recent winning films. The script readers, who select the winning scripts from a large amount of submissions, will also be on hand to answer questions, as will Eilish Kent, Development Executive Drama, who oversees the awards for RTÉ. If you are considering submitting a script for the 2011 award, or are simply interested in short film making, then this is an ideal opportunity to gain a valuable insight into the process. Filmmakers attending the event will include Conor Ferguson - The Wednesdays, Orlagh Heverin - Losing Memories, James Phelan - The Ottoman Empire, David Freyne- Passing, Pat Comer - The Day Trippers, and Thomas Hefferon - Switch. Many of the producers and writers of these short films will also take part in the discussion.
The event takes place on Friday Febuary 18 at 2pm beside the Galway Film Centre offices in Cluain Mhuire. The event is free but places are limited so register your name by emailing [email protected] or phoning 091 770 748.
