The Waterford Film Festival has announced the line-up for their 8th Annual event in the south-east city, which will run from November 7th to 9th at the Garter Lane Arts Centre.
The festival will show a range of Irish and international short films, having received entries from around the globe. One of the festival’s stated aims is to have a fair balance, or mix, of films, in different genres, from 1st time filmmakers to award winners.
That means that this year 36 short films will be shown as part of 4 short film programmes, comprising of 7-10 films a piece, with an approximate run-time of 90 minutes. The festival will also showcase two films, Conor Heffernan’s documentary Rainbow Chaser and James Fitzgerald’s multi-award-winning Skunky Dog. A Q&A session will follow the screenings, with filmmakers from both in attendance.
By screening at the Garter Lane Arts Centre, the festival can provide the full cinematic experience, with a full HD Multi Media Projector incorporating two 330 watt projection lamps. The full-sized cinema screen allows films to be screened in widescreen 16:9 format with Dolby surround sound.
Alongside the short films the festival boasts a work shop with David Burke, head of Universal Pictures Ireland. The workshop will be chaired by filmmaker Siobhan Cleary, hosted in Garter Lane and is sponsored by Greyfriars Art Gallery. This is sure to provide a fantastic opportunity for filmmakers to find out more about film distribution in Ireland from a major studio.
What marks the festival apart from other short film festivals around the country is the screenplay competition, which is now celebrating its 7th year. Each year the festival receives a ton of submissions for this competition, with the winners receiving a cash prize of €500 and 5 days film equipment hire and access to editing facilities from FILMLAB.
The full line-up of great Irish and international shorts can be found on the festival website, with tickets available via the Garter Lane Box Office, or on their website.