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PHOTOS – Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2018 Junior Finals announces winners
Max Hendrickson, (12) winner of the Ireland Junior Young Filmmaker of the Year Award 2018 at Fresh Film Festival, Limerick pictured with Leanne Moore, Max’s grandparents Bernie and Brendan Dunne with Jayne Foley, Director of Fresh Film Festival Limerick at the Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2018 Junior finals. Picture: Cian Reinhardt/ilovelimerick
Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2018 Junior finals
by ilovelimerick Correspondent Ryan O’Connell
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Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year 2018 announced its Junior winners at the Fresh Film Festival 2018 in Limerick on Wednesday, March 21st. The Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2018 Junior finals, which received a record of almost 1,500 entries this year, took place at the Odeon Castletroy, where TV and fitness star Leanne Moore announced the winners.
12-year-old Max Hendrickson from Cabra, Dublin took home the title of Ireland’s Young Junior Filmmaker of the year 2018 for his short film ‘Isolation’, in which a girl in hiding is threatened by a sinister force and needs to escape. Speaking about his win, Max said, “When I arrived this morning, I had no idea or intention of winning any sort of award but yet here I am. I thought all the films were spectacular and I’m super excited to come back to Fresh Film Festival”.
St. Aiden’s National School who won 2nd place at the Irish young filmmaker of the year awards 2018 – Juniors with Jayne Foley, Director Fresh Film Festival and Leanne MoorePicture: Cian Reinhardt/ilovelimerick
Students of St Aiden’s National School in Sligo were the second place winners for their film ‘In Memoriam’, a dramatization of the World War one poem of the same name, while students of Scoil Raifiteirí in Mayo took home third place for their film ‘Nazrat is Ainm Dom’, in which a child from Africa struggles to adapt to a Gaelscoil.
Other entries received highly commended honours at the Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2018 Junior finals, including students of Ardfert National School in Kerry for production design, Seamus Griffiths age 12 from Cork for documentary, the Young Irish Filmmakers group from Kilkenny for comedy and Alice Walsh age 11 from Clare for animation.
In addition to the Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year awards, a number of specialist awards were presented at the Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2018 Junior finals including Beth Murphy, aged 11 from Limerick with the RTÉ 60 Second Award Junior winner for her film ‘Dunphy’s Circus: The Animals Farewell’, while Seamus Griffiths of Cork won the RTÉ Junior Factual award for his film ‘Home from the Sea’. Additionally, students of Ballyporeen and Skeheenarinky Schools took home the Radharc Documentary Award for ‘Stories Handed Down’.
Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year is the highlight of Limerick’s Fresh Film Festival, which is now in its 22nd Year. Other highlights of Fresh Film Festival 2018 include feature screenings and workshops including an animation workshop with Brazilian animator Alexandre Almeida Juruena De Mattos.
Scoil Rsifiteirí National School who won 3rd place at the Irish young filmmaker of the year awards 2018 – Juniors with Jayne Foley, Director Fresh Film Festival, and Leanne MoorePicture: Cian Reinhardt/ilovelimerick
Fresh Film Festival encourages young people from Ireland and overseas, aged 7 to 18 years, to create, exhibit and share films. The festival provides an opportunity for these young filmmakers to have their work seen on a cinema screen for the first time and to compete for the title of Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year. All films submitted are also considered for a range of Specialist Awards including the Radharc Trust Award (documentary), the Boulder Media Animation Award, the RTE 60 Second Short Film Award and the RTE Factual Award, in addition to the International and Audience awards.
Reflecting on this year’s competition, Fresh Film Festival Director Jayne Foley commented, “Fresh Film Festival is all about encouraging young people to tell their stories through film, so the record number of submissions this year shows we have a nation of young storytellers with something to say and the creative means to say it. We’ve been overwhelmed by the entries this year: The future of filmmaking in Ireland is bright”. She went on to note the importance of Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year, “Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year Competition gave all these young people a focus – an event to aim for. This is the core part of the festival – young people making and screening their own stories before an audience of their peers”.
Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year Senior finals will take place on March 22 in Limerick, during The Fresh Film Festival 2018.
Further details about the Fresh Film Festival can be found here.
For more stories on the Fresh Film Festival, go here.
Pictures by Sophie Goodwin & Ciara Hayes/ilovelimerick
