First Cut! Youth Film Festival is thrilled to announce its 2019 programme!

The festival runs Wednesday March 6th to Saturday March 9th. It culminates with the Saturday lineup, a day packed with screenings, panel discussions and other events all free and open to the public. The Open Call short film programmes, including the Spotlight Emerging Filmmakers screening, gather films of all genres from Ireland and abroad to offer a celebration of the inventiveness of young filmmakers. Our new partner Cork Film Festival has curated a programme of short films for young people from their 2018 edition. This event takes place at Youghal’s Regal Cinema, our new venue partner, and includes a new prize to be awarded by Cork Film Festival.

Saturday also features two public discussion events. There is a special focus on the acclaimed Irish feature Michael Inside featuring public interviews with its star Dafhyd Flynn and its assistant director Niall Owens. Last year, First Cut! engaged with the urgently relevant issue of gender equality in the film and TV industry by inviting a panel of female filmmakers to discuss the rewards and challenges of being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field. This year, in the Breaking Barriers panel discussion, we are expanding the dialogue around inclusivity by inviting a panel of female and male film professionals to address this issue.

Saturday concludes with the fourth annual YMVC (Youth Music Video Competition) in which we partner with Feel Good Lost to mentor six young filmmakers in making music videos. These outstanding young directors were selected and mentored by director Brendan Canty and producer David Lester Mooney for this opportunity. Each finalist has been matched with a track from an up and coming Irish act and we are delighted to premiere these videos at this event where the award for best YMVC film will be announced.

Other public events include the First Cut! Family Evening at the Regal Cinema on Thursday March 7th at 7pm. This features a programme of animation films by local primary school students followed by a screening of Cartoon Saloon’s Oscar-nominated animation feature The Breadwinner. This screening is free but ticketed – tickets are available at Eventbrite. Just before this, at 5.30 on Thursday, there is a screening of A Village Full of Colour a feature documentary by the young people of Inch Foróige about the past, present and future of the Inch/Killeagh community.

On Wednesday March 6th, there is an acting workshop with award winning actor/writer/director John McCarthy for anyone aged 14-18 with an interest in acting for camera. No previous experience is required.

In addition to our public events, there is a range of screenings for schools and youth groups. Wednesday is dedicated to a rich programme of animation related screenings and presentations for primary school students from local schools who participated in animation workshops. Not only will they see their own films premiered but also a screening of animations by filmmakers associated with Paper Panther, the animation company that mentored them in the workshops; a presentation by animators Jane Lee and Lorraine Lordan; and a screening of Cartoon Saloon’s feature The Breadwinner. Thursday features an Open Call programme of national and international shorts made by Schools & Youth Groups, while Friday focuses on films made in schools under the Cork Young Filmmakers programme. It also includes Next Steps, a presentation that explores ways for young people to take filmmaking a step – or several steps! – beyond the Cork Young Filmmakers (CYF) one-day workshops.

See you at the movies!