Thanks to the Irish Film Board, you can blag tickets to Signatures and Reality Bites at the Cork Opera House on Saturday, November 13th at 4pm. Showcasing the best of upcoming film and documentary talent, this is a great opportunity to see what and who is coming down the tracks in the world of Irish film! To blag said tickets, tune into the show tonight, from 9pm on Corks RedFM.
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The latest series of 'Signatures' and 'Reality Bites', consisting of eight short films and documentaries, will be premiering at this year's 55th Corona Cork Film Festival on Saturday 13th November.
This latest batch of shorts highlight the remarkable standard of fresh Irish film-makers, including the multi-award winning producers Andrew Freedman, whose documentary His & Hers has taken the international festival circuit by storm, bagging a host of awards at Sundance, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, and Traverse in Michigan to name but a few. Morgan Bushe, producer of Colony, which has also been garnering huge critical acclaim across the globe and Rachel Lysaght, producer on The Pipe, which had recent screenings at prestigious London and Toronto.
This is the third round of these two schemes to be unveiled at the festival. As the IFB/BSÉ's flagship short film scheme, 'Signatures' focuses on the making of live-action, fiction films that aim to encourage strong, original storytelling, visual flair and production values appropriate to the big screen. This year's shorts are a diverse mix of dark humour, adventure and poignancy.
Prominent acting talent Don Wycherley (My Brothers, Bachelors Walk) and Michael McElhatton (Happy Ever Afters, Parked), star in Peter McDonald's PENTECOST, which follows eleven-year-old Damian who is called at the last minute to serve as an altar boy at an important mass in his local parish. Brian O'Malley's beautiful film CROSSING SALWEEN which was shot entirely in Thailand follows a young girl making the journey through the Burmese jungle to the Salween River and the safety of Thailand beyond.
Nick Kelly's darkly comic SHOE tells the story of Vince who is about to kill himself - but that crazy beggar keeps killing the mood, while Oonagh Kearney's moving short THE CHRISTENING is about a teenage girl Ailbhe. Smart, confident and outspoken, nothing fazes her - except the christening of her nephew this weekend.
The IFB 'Reality Bites' scheme encourages experimentation and the realization of a fresh approach to non-fiction filmmaking. This year's selection touch on four extremely different and emotional topics.
COLLABORATION HORIZONTALE, directed by Ciaran Cassidy and produced by Morgan Bushe, examines an iconic image from war photographer Robert Capa taken during World War II with the film returning sixty five years on to discover the fate that befell a young girl, whose father was a German soldier. Colm Quinn's NEEDLE EXCHANGE follows two recovering drug addicts who practise tattooing on eachother and was produced by Andrew Freedman.
Matt Leigh's light-hearted BLUE RINSE considers how although time may be a great healer, he's a lousy beautician and how your hair is your crowning glory no matter what age you are! Hilary Fennell's moving film HEARING SILENCE documents professional musician Elizabeth Petcu and how she copes with going deaf.
'Signatures' and 'Reality Bites' will screen in the Opera House on Saturday 13th November at 4pm.
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