The Louth Film Festival; first of its kind
by Ryan Hayes
But many more to come.
The Louth Filmmakers Society has been working incredibly hard these past months to bring a whole new event to Dundalk. If you’ve kept up to date with our site, you know that we’ve been running a series of fundraising events (thank you, Paul ‘Wick’ Cumiskey) in order to fund our first ever film festival.
Saturday, the 24th of August, the Louth Film Festival debuted to an audience that we could describe as nothing less than enthusiastic, welcoming, and willing to embrace the culture of film in Ireland.
The festival was organized by festival directors, Jay Peter Javeri, the chairman of the Louth Filmmakers Society, Colm Mullen, established cinematographer and board member of the Louth Filmmakers Society, and Lorcan Dunne, lecturer of DKIT.
The festival was held proudly by The Louth Filmmakers Society, in partnership with DKIT and held at the An Táin theatre in Dundalk.
The entire roster of current members came out to make sure this event ran smoothly, and smoothly it did run. Despite a schedule chock full of feature films, short films, and Q&A’s with featured filmmakers, a talented team of dedicated people were enough to bring this whole event together.
Their thanks and contribution to the culture of Louth, and film within Ireland, cannot be understated. Such a talented team acting as volunteers is next to unheard of, but the Louth Filmmakers pulled it together.
We had some amazing films by some of Irelands most prolific directors working today. Sean Murray presented his eye-opening documentary, ‘Unquiet Graves’, which revealed collusion attempts made by the british government with pro-loyalist forces in the North. We also had Frank Barry presenting his amazing feature film, ‘Michael Inside’, which detailed a young man’s trip to prison and the psychological impact it had on his life.
Both Directors also joined Jay Peter Javeri, Colm Mullen and Lorcan Dunne, among other filmmakers in our industry panel to discuss their course into filmmaking and answer some questions from the audience. The panel was moderated by our discussion chair Kenneth Sloane.
The closing moments of the festival saw the award ceremony honor the most impactful films shown in the festival. Best film was awarded to ‘Sky’s The Limit’, best documentary was won by ‘Vasectomy Doctor’, and the Dean Cundey award for best cinematography was awarded to ‘Low Tide’. Finally, the audience award was given to the horror short, ‘Repossession’.
It’s at this point we’d like to recognize the contributions from DKIT, who, without which, a first time festival on this scale couldn’t have been reached.
Lorcan Dunne was the man who became one of our festival directors and liaised with DKIT and helped coordinate. He also organized the films that came from DKIT which were welcomed into the festival as it represented the talent that can be found in Louth right now.
Kenneth Sloane acted as our discussion chair, and provoked though filled-filled discussion between all filmmakers and panelists. He himself admitted that we barely scratched the surface of what knowledge and experience these filmmakers can impart. (Next year, two hour panels might have to be a thing).
The after party was held in Toales pub, just across the road from the theatre. They were kind enough to lend us their back tent and a whole area was dedicated to networking, with creatives getting to know each other over a few well deserved drinks. The society members who volunteered were also grateful to finally unwind.
Next year’s festival is already being brainstormed, and with more time, resources and members there to help, we can only imagine next year’s festival will be even bigger…
