PHOTOS: Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2019 Finalists are Announced

Pictured are Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year Awards 2019 finalists Milosh Hughes, 18 from Malahide, Sean Tracey, 14 from Wicklow, and Cal O’Driscoll, 16 from Dublin 7, at the Dublin regional heats of the Fresh Film Festival at the Irish Film Institute. Picture: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick.

PHOTOS: Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2019 finalists are announced

Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year 2019 moved one step closer to crowning its winners by announcing finalists this week. The announcements were made at six different regional heats across four days. The competition, which received a record of over 1,700 entries this year, announced which short films would move on to the finals, which take place on March 27 and 28 during the Fresh Film Festival.

Films screened at the regional heats included films from all over the country, as well as International films from around the world. Over 60 short films by young Irish filmmakers were announced as finalists and will be screened during the Fresh Film Festival, which will take place from March 25 to 30 in Limerick.

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The regional heats took place in Limerick, Dublin and Cork. Audience Awards were announced following each regional screening, with winners including ‘The Secret Life’ by Oisin McKeogh and Rebecca Jones (Limerick), ‘Picture This’ by Reuben Harvey and Matthew Howe (Leinster), ‘Nowhere Else’ by Ben Kearney (Dublin/Leinster), ‘Big Trouble in Little John’s Park’ by The SWAY Project (Cork) and ‘Ron Gone!’ by Jack McKenna and Billy Clarke (Galway).

Other highlights of Fresh Film Festival 2019 include feature screenings and workshops including an Industry Master class with The National Youth Film School.

Now in its twenty-third year, 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.

Ireland’s Young Filmmakers have a very interesting approach,” says Jayne Foley, Director of Fresh Film Festival. “Storytelling is at the core,” she says, “because the budget is usually either low or non-existent, film-makers have to be very inventive with plot and location.” This year the festival received over 1,700 films into its three categories Junior, Senior and International. Jayne adds, “the festival is a forum where young film-makers can meet each other. Even at that stage networking is important. You may end up meeting the same people again later in your career. As advocates of young film-making, we also try to showcase films abroad. We’ve brought Irish films and young filmmakers to Korea, Palestine, Austria, Germany, and Edinburgh. This year we are excited to have a number of International young filmmakers coming to Fresh and sharing their filmmaking experience with us.”

Fresh Film Festival encourages young people to make films by hosting an annual international film festival for young people, presenting Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year Awards, acting as an advocate for young filmmakers and promoting their work worldwide.  Fresh runs a number of initiatives throughout the year, including a Hothouse programme designed to bring young people of different ages and diverse backgrounds together to share their film experiences and create new collaborative work, as well as distributing Irish films made by young people to festivals all over the world.  The Arts Council of Ireland, Limerick City and County Council and RTE Supporting the Arts support the Fresh Film Festival.

For more information on the Fresh Film Festival, go here. 

For more stories on the Fresh Film Festival, go here. 

To see the photos from the Limerick Regional Heats, go here. 

Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2019 finalists Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2019 finalists Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2019 finalists Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2019 finalists

Pictures: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick

Pictures: Orla McLaughlin/ilovelimerick

Pictures: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick

Pictures: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick