An annual highlight of First Cut! Youth Film Festival is the YMVC – Youth Music Video Competition. Since 2016, First Cut! has been partnering with cutting edge production company Feel Good Lost to give young emerging filmmakers based in Ireland the opportunity to create music videos under the mentorship of noted director Brendan Canty and other recognised industry professionals. With each year, the competition has gone from strength to strength and now we are delighted to announce the filmmakers selected to participate in YMVC 2021.

Josh Meany

A Carlow based filmmaker and photographer. He studied Multimedia Studies at DCU, graduating in 2018. Since then he has worked in video production roles and on personal projects. He has directed a number of music videos to date, mainly working with electronic and hip hop producers. In his work Josh aims to capture candid human moments and experiences which correlate thematically with the intent of the music they accompany.

Anna Heisterkamp

A music video director, cinematographer and editor based in Dublin. She is half-German, half-Irish and spent her childhood in Washington D.C before moving back to Ireland. Since graduating from the National Film School in 2019, she has continued to make music videos whilst studying maths and philosophy to learn more about different methods of thought and how we perceive the world.

Aisling O’Regan Sargent

A recent graduate of The National Film School at IADT and was the recipient of the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland Award 2020. Aisling has written and directed many short films during her college career, including Take A Seat. Find Me. Touch Me. and The Anniversary.  Aisling’s graduate short Cease, starring Hazel Doupe, has gone on to screen at festivals in Ireland and around the world. She was recently nominated for an award in the student film category at The Richard Harris Film Festival.

Darragh Scott & Emma Murphy

Darragh Scott is an animator and filmmaker from Dublin. He has worked in video production since the age of 17, co-founding the production company Flourish Films. With Flourish he directed work for Brands such as RTÉ, Offbeat Donut Co. and Camile.

Emma Murphy is an animation filmmaker and designer from Kerry. She recently graduated from the National Film School, IADT with a BA in Animation and is currently working full-time as an animator in Kavaleer Productions.

Robert Bass & Eoin Byrne

A directing duo currently in their final year at the National Film School, IADT. They bonded over a shared obsession with music and cinema, and under the GONZO Collective have worked across various mediums, creating music videos, short films and artwork.

Robert and Eoin are driven by their love of collaboration, and enthusiasm for experimentation. Over the course of the coming years, the pair are striving to develop their skills, continuing to challenge themselves in the pursuit of realising their goal of directing feature-length films.