Friday March 10th, 7pm, The Regal Cinema

An evening of inspiring short films followed by a thought-provoking Q&A with the filmmakers. Youghal Connections brings together wonderful stories from Youghal to New Zealand, linked together by Youghal, its beautiful Blackwater River and its growing filmmaking community. Renowned filmmaker Brendan Canty curates a selection of the best of recent Irish shorts and Darina Clancy presents a section of her documentary on the River Blackwater, Cois Móire that focuses on Youghal.

This screening is a new departure for First Cut! where we invite an adult audience, young and old, to come and enjoy this carefully curated selection of short films. Like always, entry is free of charge.

Cois Móire – extract (Darina Clancy)
Scrap (Jamie O’Rourke)
Penthos (Catherine Walker)
Untitled (Allyn Quigley)
Atali’i O Le Crezent (Brendan Canty)
4×4 (Ayla Amano)
Sucking Diesel (Sam McGrath)

Darina Clancy is a producer and director with over 25 years’ experience. She has produced and directed television content and films for five channels in Ireland and been nominated for two IFTAs. In 2014 she set up her own production company which has produced two series of Hollywood in Éirinn; a one off documentary, An Cliath Oilimpeach; and a four part series on the river Blackwater Cois Móire.

Jamie O’Rourke’s first short as writer and director, Scrap, currently on the festival circuit, was nominated for an IFTA and will screen at 2023 Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival. His second film, Calf, was recently commissioned by Screen Ireland & Virgin Media.

Recognized for her work both in her native Ireland and internationally, multi-award winning actress Catherine Walker has a successful career spanning 25 years. She has brought this experience to bear, along with her skills as a poet and a screenwriter, on her recently completed filmmaking debut, Penthos.

Allyn Quigley has directed a number of award-winning shorts. His most recent, Moth, picked up Best Irish Short Film at the Kinsale Shark Awards. He is currently in pre-production on his next short, Yellow Belt, funded as part of Screen Ireland’s Focus Shorts programme.

Brendan Canty is among the most exciting and prolific Irish directors. He enjoyed huge early success with his video for Hozier’s ‘Take Me to Church’. In 2019, he directed a short, Christy, which he’s developing as a feature with BBC Films and Screen Ireland. He recently won Best Director at Show Me Shorts Festival for Atali’i O Le Crezent.

Originally from New Zealand, Ayla Amano produced & directed videos for a wide range of clients, before spending two years in Vancouver working in documentary television production and directing a feature documentary for CBC. She now resides in Cork. Her debut short, 4×4, premiered at the Cork International Film Festival.

Sam McGrath is a multi-award winning Irish director based in London and Dublin. In 2022, Sam’s work took home a cumulative 10 Kinsale Shark Awards. In addition to this, he picked up 2 Silver Screen Awards at the Cannes Lions Young Director Awards. His short film Sucking Diesel is in the middle of a fantastic festival run.