First Cut! is delighted to announce the three programmes of short films selected from the 2021 Open Call.

The New Normal: Open Call Programme 1
Sat. April 17th, 8pm

The opening programme of this year’s festival is an acknowledgment that 2020 has been a year like no other. With Covid-19 ravaging the world, a ‘new normal’ of worrying uncertainty has established itself in Ireland and across the globe. Beyond the immediate effects of the virus, periods of lockdown, isolation and a general interruption to life as we have known it have touched us all. This programme is made up of films received through the festival’s open call that reflect on and react to living with the pandemic. Even if society is gripped by a public health crisis, these films are heartening proof that the enormous creativity of young filmmakers aged 12 – 24 is healthier than ever. The variety and sheer imagination of this group of films is itself a sign of hope, adaptability and resilience. From thoughtful documentaries to moving dramas to unclassifiable personal responses to the lockdown – and not forgetting a couple of laugh-out-loud comedies responding to some of its more absurdist aspects! – The New Normal is a testament to the inspiring power of youthful creativity.

• The New Normal (Olympia International Film Festival & Camera Zizanio)
• Covid Eire (Michael Keane)
• Self Isolated (Ashish Prasai)
• The Year of the End (Muirinn Carty – County Wexford Youth Film Project)
• Three Things That Filmmakers Should Do During Quarantine (Brandon Lee)
• What About the Animals? (Tom Martin – County Wexford Youth Film Project) Conversation Covid: Aisling McNiffe (Amy & Rebecca Moore – Kildare Young Filmmakers)
• Conversation Covid: Amy O’Sullivan (Amy & Rebecca Moore – Kildare Young Filmmakers)
• Who Are You? (Harini Rameshkumar)
• Static (Gearoid Murphy)
• Season 16 (Niamh Collins – Emerging Limerick Filmmakers)
• Conversation Covid: Gary Cogan (Amy & Rebecca Moore – Kildare Young Filmmakers)
• The Shipwrecked School (Ciaran Mahony)
• Stay at Home (Emmet Punch)
• Conversation Covid: Maeve Doyle (Amy & Rebecca Moore – Kildare Young Filmmakers)
• Conversation Covid: Sharon Curran (Amy & Rebecca Moore – Kildare Young Filmmakers)
• Merry Covid Christmas (Terence MacSwiney Community College Transition Year Group)
• Distanced (Liam Boland)
• SEM Film Project (Kacper Bogalecki – Saint Brendan’s College, Killarney)

Panel Discussion: Michael Keane (Covid Eire), Kacper Bogalecki (SEM Film Project) and Amy & Rebecca Moore (Conversation Covid) will discuss their work in a panel moderated by programmer Max Le Cain.

First Cut! Open Call Programme 2
Thur April 22nd, 7.30pm

First Cut welcomes short films of every genre by young people aged 12 to 18 from Ireland and abroad. The skill and imagination of young filmmakers shines through in the diverse and entertaining films that make up this programme. It includes a rich array of films from schools, youth groups and individual filmmakers, and presents a vibrant cross section of youth filmmaking today.

• FOMO (Kevin Meggs & Max Hendrickson)
• This Ain’t No Disco (Léigh Carroll – County Wexford Youth Film Project)
• Gaiste (Michael Keane)
• Dead Noodles (Veronica Howells)
• CNP – Visit to the Lacunary Space of Memory (Adina Constantin)
• Dawn (Ailish Dynan – Aquinas Diocesan Grammar School)
• Hypno (Fiona Sykes)
• As If I Remember (Leone Fiorito Wright – Kenmare Youth Film)
• Magnets (Mel Larkin)
• Painting (Cian Rowley – Emerging Limerick Filmmakers)
• Radiohead Trauma (Liam Cronly – Autism Support Louth & Meath)
• Liber (Muirinn Carty)
• Masked (Felix Kiene-Gualtieri)
• Recovery (Demi Duffy – Swan Youth Services)
• Water Bottle Aid (National Youth Film & Animation School/Young Irish Filmmakers)
• The Windsor Knot (Josh Kenny)
• Why Life Ends? (Furkan Arslantas)
• Coffee Break (Shane Joyce)

Panel Discussion: Fiona Sykes (Hypno), Shane Joyce (Coffee Break) and Muirinn Carty (Liber) will discuss their work in a panel moderated by programmer Max Le Cain.

Spotlight Open Call Programme
Fri April 23rd, 8pm

Spotlight is First Cut’s open call programme celebrating the vision of emerging filmmakers of third level age. Some are in film courses, some are working independently but all are significant upcoming talents to watch for in the future.

• So Say All of Us (Colin Peppard)
• Everything Right Now (Wolliewohl Junior)
• That’s Not Fair (Olivia J. & Peter Walsh)
• Clara’s Room (Pippa Molony)
• To All My Darlings (Lia Campbell)
• Be More (Pearse Donaghy)
• Coming Home (Laura Mannix)
• Husky (Darragh Scott)
• Nostalgia (Charlotte Ainsworth)
• Follow (Simone Tringali)
• The Sauce (Brian Clancy)
• Cat Vomit (Francis O’Mahony)
• What Athena Saw When Tiresias Looked (Douglas Tyrrell Bunge)
• I Am Not Your Bitch (Katelyn Markham O’Halloran)
• Last Letter (Ian Fallon)
• An Tuile (Seamus Wulff)

Panel Discussion: Francis O’Mahony (Cat Vomit), Lia Campbell (To All My Darlings) and Darragh Scott (Husky) will discuss their work in a panel moderated by filmmaker Ger Browne.