On Halloween night this week, Young Irish Film Makers held the premier of their latest summer production, First Confession, in Kilkenny’s Set Theatre.
The event was a significant milestone for the group. First Confession is the first Film Makers’ feature with a cast of both adult professionals as well as the students themselves.
Speaking to the Kilkenny Advertiser last month, the group’s artistic director Mike Kelly said that the film, based on a short story by Frank O’ Connor, marked a new departure for Young Irish Film Makers.
“The kids are the stars, but the idea came to us – could we possibly get adult professionals in on this as well?” he says.
“And the story works so that we’d just be able to work with the mother for a day, with the grandmother for a day, the priest for a day. So, we got Pauline McLynn, we got Karl Spain, they all came down and it was a real joy to work with them.”
“Karl Spain was a bit doubtful because he hadn’t acted before really, but he was great. Pauline is a super professional, but loved working with the youngsters, she loved how professional they were with the cameras and that. Even on her blog the next day, she said ‘there are days when work doesn’t seem like work’.”
Working with tried and trusted household names had other benefits for the group, according to Mr Kelly.
“All the kids’ skills came up as well, because they were working with professionals. We thought this really benefited the young people, this exercise,” he says.
“The other side was to try and create films that might create a revenue for us so that perhaps we could expand our staffing, our programmes and maybe our premises.”
“So we were looking for feature films that will have names in them that will go out there and somebody will recognise them. Brendan Corcoran and John Morton have been in them, and they are stars in Kilkenny.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the group’s conception. Certainly, Young Irish Film Makers has come a long way from its humble beginnings.
The group’s first home was a bench and a phone box beside the Parade. From there, the Film Maker’s moved into Ossory Youth Services in 1992.
“We started with 15 kids, and several thousand have passed through in the meantime,” says Mr Kelly.
“We have a big ball coming up at halloween, and we hope all our past members are coming to it, they’re coming from all over the place. And they’ve ended up in all sorts of work – not just film, but many in film, and theatre.”
Youth work is Mr Kelly’s own background – when he finished his degree in theatre and film, he departed for Australia – at the invitation of Stephen Murphy. It was there where he first worked with young people in the arts, and when he returned home, he brought his experience to bear.
“I came back to Ireland thinking of exploring that as a practice based on the youth theatre practice – so a youth theatre with cameras. And also with the idea – could we possibly attempt a feature film?” he says.
“But it was still a film/tape nexus, and it took us a number of years to get it right, just finding out how to do it. We had no models anywhere that we could look at and say ‘this is how you do a youth theatre feature film programme. Gradually, we came to the conclusion was to buy the rights to a book that had a bit of a name that might get some money.
“So we bought the rights to Under the Hawthorn Tree, and then Channel 4 came in, and suddenly we were off and running. And that’s the beginnings of it. But I had no idea that this month would mark the twentieth anniversary of that experiment, when I came home in 1991.”
Like everything else in Ireland at the moment, the group has had to cope with the onslaught of the recession.
“The beginning of this year was tough, because we have had to let three people go. We got squeezed for funding through the arts council – it’s dropped about 30 per cent over three years – still generous, and keeping us going, but it is tough out there. And they tell us we’re looking at three more tough budgets!”
It is the near universal appeal of film making that has caught the attention of so many of Kilkenny’s teens.
Garry McHugh, the group’s outreach coordinator, says that it can be a positive experience for young people who haven’t yet found their niche.
“Many of the young people who come to us are aware that suddenly they find a home,” he says.
“They may not be into hurling, or sports in school. But suddenly they find a place that there love of acting or technical stuff runs riot, and it’s great that they’ve found a home. People grow in here very quickly.”
Mr Kelly agrees. He feels that the Film Makers experience can boost self esteem, help solve problems, and teach people to work together as a group. Certainly, it provides people with a forum or platform from which to work and express themselves.
“You can bring ten young people from all different walks and all different backgrounds,” he says.
“In a film project, you will find a place for each one of those. You find that they will naturally slot into a position or crew role that suits them. And that is a microcosm of life, or the workplace.”
“We can see the need for this. The parents definitely seem to think that their youngsters grow in confidence, that they are almost different young people coming home after a film camp.
“They are our colleagues in working here, they have a job and they want to do it. They have a product at the end of it all that they want to be excellent. And they are an important cog within all of that.”
From designing costumes to shooting the camera, or acting in front of it – there is a variety of roles for every young person who wants to get involved.
Darragh Kelly is the group’s head of film, having at one time in the not too distant past been a student of the YIFM. Now he teaches the classes, manages the equipment – in filming specifically, and the website.
“I had a fantastic experience as a student,” he says.
“I came here first to do junior drama, and I hated it and left. I was about 11, and my mother forced me to come back for one class.
“I walked into a tech class, where they were talking about cables. And I’m still here now! I had found my niche.”
Outreach coordinator Garry McHugh coordinates the summer camps as well. He says the interest is not just confined to Kilkenny.
“We’ve had youngsters coming from all over Ireland and abroad, I think we had four people from spain this year,” he says.
“They happened to be in Ireland on holidays and were looking for things to do. They found this, said ‘that’s unique, we’ll go and learn English and have a good time with young people from Ireland’.
“We have a repeat customer – a young man from the Czech Republic. He came last year, out of the blue, then came back for two weeks this year. He comes to learn the language, explore Irish culture, and his love of film.”
The recommended age is 13-20, but the group has members as young as nine. Can a nine year old come in and operate this equipment?
“You can probably teach a youngster the basics of film skills in a week,’ says Mr Kelly.
“A weekend if they’re smart. Adults, about three years.
“Youngsters are coming to us Youtube-smart, and Vimeo-smart, Facebook-smart. So it’s not like the kids I worked with in 1991 who didn’t have this background.
“So the whole thing changed under our feet. Once digital came in, we were off and running.”
To acknowledge the group’s 20th birthday, the Film Makers have written a short list of goals. The growing success has allowed the group to set high targets.
“We’ve got to always look at raising all the standards, and the equipment,” says Mr Kelly.
“We expect the quality to rise all the time. I would hope that we would be looked at in the future, as not just a group of young people making films – but as a film company making films, that happens to have young people working on it.
“And when you have people like Pauline coming out saying ‘this is as good as anybody I’ve ever worked with’ – that’s where you want to be.
“I think that we have a lot of everyday success stories. Youngsters come in and they are quite shy, and give them three or four months and they are able to act, or work the equipment. So they grow in confidence, and parents come to us and say this all the time.”
For more information on the Young Irish Film Makers, telephone 056-7764677 or visit www.yifm
