Saturday 12th, 6.15pm
The Regal Cinema

First Cut! continues to partner with award-winning director Brendan Canty for the sixth annual YMVC. Seven outstanding young filmmakers were selected in 2021 by directors Brendan Canty and Lochlainn McKenna for the opportunity to make a music video under their mentorship. Each finalist was matched with a track from the following up and coming Irish acts: Alex Tierney, Bantum, God Knows, Junior Brother, and Niamh Regan. Despite the lockdowns, all the filmmakers continued to work on creating these beautifully made music videos.

At this event, we are delighted to welcome the filmmakers to the festival and finally share their videos with a live cinema audience. The 2021 YMVC award will be announced followed by a panel discussion with filmmakers and special guests including festival special guest Bob Gallagher and Alex Tierney, moderated by Jessica Bonenfant Coogan, the YMVC coordinator.

An in-depth conversation with the 2021 participants about their experience of YMVC and their creative process can be watched here.

For details of the YMVC 2022 Open Call click here.

Participants

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

Aisling O’Regan Sargent is a film maker from Dublin, Ireland. She is a graduate of The National Film School, where she received the Screen Directors Guild Of Ireland Award 2020. Aisling’s debut short Cease has screened at many film festivals. Cease won best scripted film at the Royal Television Society Student Awards 2021 and went on to be nominated in the national competition in London. Cease was also nominated in the Best Irish Film category at Fastnet Film Festival 2021 and most recently screened at London Irish Film Festival. Aisling has recently directed a music video for folk artist Niamh Regan’s song Two Seagulls and is currently in the final stages of her new short Lynn and Lucy, written by Ciara Rose Van Burren.

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

Directing Duo, Robert and Eoin are driven by their love of collaboration, and enthusiasm for experimentation. 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. 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.

Mentors

Brendan Canty

Brendan Canty has forged his way as one of the most exciting and prolific Irish directors to watch. His early career enjoyed large success with his video for Hozier’s Take Me to Church (which has since surpassed 700 million views on Youtube along with two MTV VMA nominations), since then Brendan has gone on to direct consistently elegant and visually stunning music videos for top international artists. In 2017 Brendan directed For You (starring Barry Keoghan) which went on to win a Kinsale Shark and was nominated for an IFTA. In 2019, Brendan directed a second short film – Christy – funded through Screen Ireland, which he’s currently developing as a feature with BBC Films and Scott Free.

Lochlainn McKenna

Lochlainn McKenna (A.K.A Locky) is a music video and commercials director from Cork. He was the 2017 winner of YMVC and that success propelled him to win 5 Kinsale Shark Awards in the next 3 years, including: Best New Director, Best Low Budget Music Video (x2), Best Editing and Best Cinematography. In 2018, Locky won two Emerging Director Awards, and his video for Daithí received a Vimeo Staff Pick. Another collaboration with Daithí led to a prestigious nomination at the 2019 UK Music Video Awards. Locky has worked with world renowned acts such as Westlife and Keane. Commercially he has directed TV commercials and online content for brands such as Heineken, Toyota, Aldi and Sky.