Youghal ready for this very special film festival?
A ripple of excitement swept across Youghal this week, and maybe the whole world, as the First Cut! Youth Film Festival announced it is now taking entries for its 13th outing next year.
Next year’s festival will run from 9-12 March and is now accepting short films from emerging young filmmakers aged from 12-24 from Ireland and abroad.
Following the enormous success of its 2021 online edition, the First Cut! team has planned a blended festival with both in-person and online events for next year.
The 2022 edition will offer an exciting programme of screenings, workshops, Q&A’s and special guests, both in-person and online.
Festival Director Mary McGrath said: “Our festival is focused specifically on young people and their extraordinary creativity. We are committed to inclusion and involvement of young people of all backgrounds, and we want to find ways to involve young people who are most at risk of exclusion.”
The excitement doesn’t stop there though because First Cut! has also just welcomed successful young actress Ayoola Smart from Schull, and talented young filmmaker Elena Horgan from East Cork, onboard as festival patron and filmmaker-in-residence respectively.
Ayoola is a familiar face on TV and cinema screens, having acted in a host of well-known shows and movies including ‘Juliet Naked’ alongside Ethan Hawke, the BBC drama ‘Death in Paradise’, and she currently stars in RTÉ’s ‘Smother’.
“First Cut! is such a wonderful platform for young creatives to explore and discover their craft, which is why I’m so excited to be coming on board as a patron. I believe now more than ever we need diverse spaces to reflect the society we live in. It is the youth of today and tomorrow, and festivals like this, who will help to change and push us forward even more,” says Ayoola.
Elena Horgan is the newly appointed Cork County Council filmmaker-in-residence, having secured the role following a competitive open call earlier this year.
She is a recent graduate in film and TV production from the National Film & TV School at Dun Laoghaire Institute Of Art Design + Technology.
Ayoola and Elena will work together on a First Cut! special project this year which sets out to support diversity and inclusion in filmmaking for young people who face barriers in getting opportunities to express themselves through film.
Supported by the Arts Council and Cork County Council, First Cut! presents films in all genres by individual filmmakers, schools and youth groups as well as offering workshops and talks by film industry professionals.
For further information and to enter a film to the festival, visit firstcutfilmfestival.com.