Exploring the Science of Cinema at The Bish this week, students helped the JFF launch this year’s programme. (L-R) Annette Maye, Gar O’Brien, Richard Iredale, Fergus Foley and Temyifade Adedeji.
Exploring the Science of Cinema at The Bish this week, students helped the JFF launch this year’s programme. (L-R) Annette Maye, Gar O’Brien, Richard Iredale, Fergus Foley and Temyifade Adedeji.

#Festival: Exciting lineup of films and events announced for Junior Galway Film Fleadh 2017

The Junior Galway Film Fleadh has announced an exciting, engaging and inspiring programme of cinematic events for the young people of Galway and Ireland. Featuring  a wide range  of feature films, short film programmes, and special events, the Junior Film Fleadh will showcase the best in cultural cinema to young audiences.  The Junior Film Fleadh is also a unique platform for some of the country’s Future Filmmakers to exhibit their work alongside carefully curated workshops designed to help them develop their craft and understand the science of cinema.

Once again we are excited to bring the best in new cultural cinema to the young people of  Galway and Ireland. This year we are also delighted to have a specific focus on the science of cinema, via filmmaking workshops, as well as a very special screening of X-Men which will look at the science of superheroes. The Junior Film Fleadh is a great opportunity train, challenge and exhibit  work from Ireland’s future filmmakers.
Gar O’Brien, Festival Programmer

Each year the JFF selects several titles that, in addition to being strong examples of world cinema, also complement school’s language curricula.  French titles this year are  Ma Vie de Courgette (My Life as a Courgette) for Senior Cycle, an Oscar-nominated animation, adapted from a YA novel by Girlhood director Celine Sciamma, and Le Voyage de Fanny (Fanny’s Journey) for Junior Cycle, an award-winning tale of courage, determination and survival in occupied France.   Meanwhile, the German title Tschick (Goodbye Berlin) (ages 15+) a funny, endearing, coming-of-age film with a verve all its own. RaRa (ages 13+) sees a young girl deal with a new familial set-up in contemporary Spain. The Gearrscannáin programme (ages 13+) features a range of short films aimed specifically at students studying Irish for Junior Cert 2018.  Study notes will be provided after each screening.

The Junior Film Fleadh will also present a series of Outreach titles taking cinema into the classroom.  These include the German Language Outreach title – Auf Augenhohe (At Eye Level)  (ages 13+) and the Irish Language Outreach title – An Mhallacht (ages 13+), a short film about the Mayo GAA curse.

In addition to language  titles the JGFF will present a special screening of the incredible  documentary  Condemned to Rememberwhich follows the last remaining Irish Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental on a moving journey across a Europe in turmoil. This  film is ideal for history students.

Ireland’s youngest filmmakers get to showcase their work as part of the Future Filmmakers shorts programmes while filmmaking Workshops will help young people explore the Science of cinema in workshops including Special FX make up for the Movies, Screenwriting, Acting for the Screen (with actor Amy-Joyce Hastings, Introduction to Film Editing (with editor Julie Flavin), Manipulating sound: Creating Music for Short Films (with Anna Mullarkey)  and a very special workshop with writer of comics, books, games, film and theatre, Maura McHugh, on storytelling across various media.  And don’t forget the Script Competition for those students who have the creative-writing bug.

Science is also a big theme for the special Saturday Matinee Screening of  the first X-Men film.  The success of X-Men in 2000 was the catalyst for the current dominance of superhero cinema at the box-office. It  was also the film that  started scientist Barry Fitzgerald on a journey into the Science of Superheroics. Barry is a Research Scientist at Delft University of Technology, a Scientific Communicator and Author. Last year he published his popular science book Secrets of Superhero Science. In the book he discusses the real science and current scientific research that you need to know in order to create the superpowers of the superheroes. Iron Man suits, invisibility cloaks and web slingers are just some of the topics discussed. As well, of course, as the genetic superpowers of the X-Men. So join them  on Saturday November 11th for a screening of the film that launched a whole industry and an introduction/post-screening discussion with Barry Fitzgerald about the amazing science of superheroes and how the world of the X-Men is not as far away as we think.

The Junior Film Fleadh runs from the 8th – 11th November. See www.galwayfilmfleadh.com for more details .