I was delighted to be asked to curate a short film programme for Maynooth Film for All [MFFA], a joint partnership between Kildare Library & Arts Service and the School of English, Theatre and Media Studies in Maynooth University. The film club is also affiliated with access>CINEMA.

Hosted by the University and generally held in the IONTAS Building on the first Tuesday of every month, the short film programme ran from October 2015 to April 2016. Each of the films I selected screened before the main feature. All were well received and attendance figures were consistently good.

I decided to theme the programme around Women in Irish Film, mainly to raise awareness and to showcase some of the fantastic talent that is out there, but also to take an opportunity to screen a wide variety of different themes and styles of filmmaking. I received far more films than I could actually screen, which is a pity as there are so many talented writers/directors out there. I’ve included links to the filmmakers and their works below for further reference.

 

Vanessa Gildea: The Abandoning

Creates the memory of a house where past and present are not separate places

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Hannah Quinn: My Bonnie

Two people at sea, trapped between a rock and a hard place, must face the distance

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Aoife Kelleher: Home

A film about how our lives are shaped by the homes in which we grow up

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Helen Flanagan: Drive

An unhappy mother struggles to connect with her infant daughter

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Lydia Ford, Olivia Flanagan, Gemma Stack: Parallel

A coming-of-age drama follows a schoolboy as his day unfolds and he transforms from his typical popular persona to his true self

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Eimear O’Grady: The Climb

For most people Kilimanjaro is their Mount Everest. The reason for climbing is personal

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Audrey O’Reilly: Wait

When an important pigeon race and a rare visit home by his son Martin coincide, Charlie waits anxiously for a safe journey home

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I wish all of the talented women featured here, and indeed, all of those I couldn’t include in the final selection, the very best of everything with their future projects, and let’s all keep striving for that level playing field in the film industry!