Tipp film festival ready to roll with 326 entries
Final preparations are now being put in place for an event that will be a showcase for Clonmel and South Tipperary all over the world.
The International Film Festival Ireland 2010 – Tipperary will be a substantial cultural and commercial event for the region and has the potential to develop into a significant tourism boost for the area, says festival director Will Nugent.
The Clonmel-based festival gets underway on this Saturday, September 4 and continues until the following Saturday, 11.
The number of entries has increased by 50% from last year's inaugural event and 326 films have been submitted from 49 countries all over the world including the Ivory Coast, the West Indies, South America, the United States, Canada, Britain and all over Europe. Those entries include films in Mandarin and Hebrew.
All of those films will be screened free of charge throughout the week at the two main venues, Knocklofty House Hotel and Hearns Hotel, while some films will also be shown at the Przystan (Polish) bar in Irishtown and the Clonmel Park Hotel.
Tickets may be purchased for the awards ceremony at Knocklofty House on Saturday, September 11, when film makers in 25 categories will be honoured at the conclusion to the festival.
More than 100 visitors are expected for an event that's a major boost for small film makers especially.
"The quality of the work is fantastic and people will connect with some of the well-known names such as Joan Collins and Tom Berenger, who appear in two of the films", says Will Nugent.
"The event is growing beyond all expectations and we're starting to pick up films that would normally be entered for festivals in Dublin and Venice", he says.
If this growth continues then the festival may need to be expanded into Clonmel's neighbouring towns next year.
A fringe event will be the Youth Film Festival. This will feature 30 short films made in South Tipperary, some of which were created during the Junction Festival while others were made through a schools project and a South Tipp Arts Centre programme.
These will be screened at the Arts Centre in Nelson Street, Clonmel next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The film makers, who come from all over South Tipp, are all under 18 and the youngest is 12 year-old Ciara Eichholz from Cappawhite.
The films in the main event cover a wide range of themes. They include a documentary on the story of St. Vincent de Paul, produced by the Catholic University in Chicago; and a drama/documentary about ladyboys in India.
Emerging film maker Michael D. Lynch, from California, who is well-known for his science fiction movie Burden and his work on Iron Man 2, returns with a film called Swerve, fresh from his success with the movie Drop at a recent festival in California.
A Vertical Man, based on the life of the musical legend Sean O'Riada, has been submitted by BAFTA and Emmy award-winning film Christopher Swann. And there will be local interest in a film submitted by Clonmel film maker Emer Lynch titled Heightened, which will also be shown in New York during the same week.
Apart from the screenings, the visitors will be entertained at a number of social events during what promises to be a busy week.
These will include a novel event next Wednesday called A Virtual Jam, where musicians from around the world will play together, thanks to a Skype link-up on the internet.
Clonmel will be connecting with musicians all over Europe and others in far-flung destinations, including Clonmel man Anthony Grace, who's now based in California.
Plans are also being made for a flotilla of boats to sail on the river from Knocklofty to Clonmel, and there will be trips to places of interest such as The Vee, the Rock of Cashel, St. Patrick's Well, the south coast and Cahir Castle.
The Tipp-based band Stephen Parker and The Magic Carpet Trio; Eelco Beckers; and Mary Nugent and Seamus Hayes will also perform during the week.
"The plan is that in four years time people will be talking about the Sundance Film Festival in the United States (America's largest independent cinema festival is held annually in Utah) and the South Tipperary festival in Europe in the same breath", Will Nugent added.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Clonmel
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 4 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
