THE
Underground Cinema Film Festival is screening 70 short films in six programmes
over three days (September 9 to 11) this weekend.
Highlights
include Paul McGrath’s film
’40 Foot’, which follows a group of older and
mainly Irish locals who swim in Sandycove all year round.
‘Happy
Birthday Timmy’ by director Johnny Cullen, is a delightful, short film about
what happens when a dad is given the task of buying his son’s birthday present.
‘Remember
Me?’ Rita-Marie Lawlor’s brooding study of revenge has been nominated for Best
Actor Award for Johnny Elliott.
And
Aidan Duffy’s magical tale of a boy born with a mirror-face,
‘Mirrorman’, has
been nominated for Best Screenplay.
“The
list goes on and on,
? declared Denise Pattison, assistant festival director.
“Filmmakers
make films for the public to see but in the case of most independent shorts and
features that rarely happens.
“We
at the Underground Cinema Film Festival want to change that and would encourage
everyone to come and see our films and comment on them.
“With
this in mind we will be having an audience choice award at the festival, so come
along, see 10 or more of our short films for e7 and tell us which is your
favourite.
“Whether
you’re looking for drama, comedy or pure visual treats, our short film
programme has something for everyone.
?
Saturday
morning at the festival is all about the kids, added Denise.
“We
will be screening the Oscar nominated film,
‘The Secret of Kells’ in the
Kingston Hotel at 10.30am. For children it is just e3 and parents are free.
“There
will also be free goodie bags provided, free face painting with Suzette
Merashino in the lobby and a free workshop with actress and drama teacher,
Sinead Monaghan.
“The
emphasis of this workshop is on fun and Sinead will be making puppets with the
children and encouraging them to put on a show afterwards,
? Denise explained.
As
well as screenings and events for the kids there will also be a wide range of
fascinating workshops tackling some of the key aspects of the film industry.
These
free workshops begin on Friday 9 with Gemma Horan’s Makeup for TV and Film at
11am in Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre when Gemma will demonstrate everything
from theatrical makeup to prosthetics.
The
Stunt Actors Guild, a networking base for some of Ireland’s most highly trained
and forward thinking stunt performers, co-ordinators, fight choreographers and
2nd unit directors, is also hosting a workshop that will offer an insight into
the process of bringing stunts from script to screen.
This
will take place in Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre on Friday 9 at 3pm.
On
Saturday 10 the Dun Laoghaire Club will show a special screening of Andrew
Kavanagh’s award winning film
‘Hasan Everywhere’ at 10.30pm.
Eoin
Macken (currently playing Gawain in the BBC 1 series Merlin) is a model, actor,
writer, editor, director and cinematographer. He will be hosting a workshop on
The Role Of The Director Of Photography in the Dun Laoghaire Club on Sunday 11
at 2pm.
For
more details and a full rundown of all the events during the festival, log onto
www.undergroundcinema-filmfestival.com