Galway City of Film has announced a new partnership project with Rome City of Film to share knowledge and expertise among the filmmakers of the future.
Galway and Rome UNESCO offices are facilitating a new international student exchange programme between the Centre for Creative Arts and Media, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, and the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome.
This April, 10 students from the GMIT BA (Hons ) in film and documentary course will travel to Rome for five days. They will attend lectures and meet their Italian counterparts with a focus on the exchange of knowledge in regard to editing and production design. The interaction will be an excellent opportunity for students to share their practices and learn from each other’s methods of working. This is also a chance for the students to network with their European counterparts and to build future working relationships.
Students will also attend screenings as part of the 10th annual Irish Film Festa. The festival is taking place in Rome from March 30 to April 2 and is hosting a special screening of Sanctuary, featuring Galway’s Blue Teapot Company, along with a focus on the work of Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan, who has agreed to a special meeting with the Galway contingent. Students will also visit key cultural locations including Rome’s world famous Cinecitta studios.
Galway City of Film and GMIT will return the gesture with students from Rome’s Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia visiting Galway later this year, visiting key film and TV locations in Galway including Ros na Rún and Studio Telegael.
Declan Gibbons, director of Galway City of Film, is delighted this exchange is taking place. "The film school in Rome is the oldest one in the world and easily stiil one of the best, if not the best," he says. "This is exactly what Galway City of Film is all about – building networks and creating new opportunities and partnerships.”
Celine Curtin, programme chair, film and documentary, GMIT, says it is a wonderful opportunity for GMIT to collaborate with this renowned Italian film school. "Both institutions have a strong skills focus and produce thinking practitioners who make a significant contribution to the international film industry. These common values provide a real foundation for a lasting relationship.”
