We would appreciate any comments you may have, which will help us to improve our festival in 2012.

If you visited the Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival in 2011 and did not have the chance to fill out a questionnaire, please find a copy below.  Please fill in and email back to info@fastnetshortfilmfestival.com.

CFSFF-questionnaire

Volunteers,

I salute you!

On behalf of the Committee I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to you all.  You were all absolutely amazing.  We could
not have done it without your help and support.   I would personally like to thank the following who helped make my life easier:-

In the Box Office: Josephine Ryan-Purcell, Jane Hurley, Camilla Griehsel, Clair Haseldine, Julia Zagar

In the Parish Hall: Camille Fenn, Deirdre Ni Chanallain, Fiona York, Donal McSweeney, Len Lipitch, Dan Cahill

In the Distributed Cinemas: Luisa McCarthy, June Housden, Corey Macri, Helen Selka, Alice Farmiloe, Stuart Geary

In the Car Park: Karen Bryan, Stephanie Arundel, Geraldine O’Reilly, Florence Newman, Sarah McKnight, Sam McKenna,
Connie McKenna, Maura McCarthy, Vincent Ahern, John Logan, Martin Malone, Linda Morgan, Ronan Clarke, Jessica Anderson, Paul Field

To Robin Wells – ‘the problem solver’ – who helped with so much, beyond the call of duty!

To David O’Reilly, Venita Galvin and Eleanor O’Driscoll, for their help with catering

To our drivers: Sean O’Connell, Hammond Journeaux, Derek McKnight, Camilla Griehsel and David O’Reilly

To our storytellers: Jesse Wells, Lydia Little, Ann Martin, Johnny Adams, Peter Andrews, Melanie, Maria Kennedy

And a special thank you to Kevin McGowan, Laurence Snashall, James Flynn and Tony O’Brien, who were at my beck and call for 4 solid days – you guys were absolutely AMAZING!!

Thank you!

Helen

Congratulations to all the winners of  3rd Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival.

BEST OF FESTIVAL

Judged by: CFSFF Committee 

Presented by Michael Barry

Cash prize of €2,000 and an original Pat Connor sculpture

WINNER:

El último Canto del Pájaro Cú

Directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios

BEST IRISH SHORT FILM

Judged by: CFSFF Committee

Presented by: Greg Dyke

Cash prize of €2,000

WINNER:

 ‘Shoe’

Directed by  Nick Kelly

BEST YOUNG FILMMAKER (U22)

Judged by Martin Levis

Presented by Martin Levis

Cash prize of €2,000

WINNER:

Happy Birthday Timmy

Directed by: Johnny Cullen

BEST IN CORK

Judged by: CFSFF Committee

Presented by: Kevin Murphy & John Pettersen

Cash prize of €500

Sponsored by Cork County Council & Schull Initiative

WINNER:

Rat’s Island

Directed by: Mike Hannon

BEST DRAMA

Judged by: Kirsten Sheridan

Presented by: Carmel Winters

Cash prize of €200

WINNER:

Mamis kleiner helfer

Directed by: Michael Lavelle

BEST COMEDY

Judged by: Patrick McCabe

Presented by: Jack Gold

Cash prize of €200

WINNER:

Nietzsche No. 5

Directed by: Shaun O’Connor

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Judged by Tony Barry

Presented by: Tony Barry

Cash prize of €200

WINNER:

Rat’s Island 

Directed by: Mike Hannon

BEST EXPERIMENTAL

Judged by Steve Baker

Presented by: Steve Baker

Cash prize of €200

WINNER:

The Streets of the Invisibles

Remo Rauscher

BEST DANCE

Judged by: CFSFF Committee

Presented by: Fran Keaveney

Cash prize of €200

WINNER:

Deep End Dance

Directed by: Conor Horgan

 BEST ANIMATION

Judged by: Mike Ahern, Synth Eastwood

Presented by: Mike Ahern, Team D.A.D.D.Y.

Cash prize of €200

WINNER:

Luna

Raúl Cárdenas

BEST DIRECTION

Judged by Gerard Stembridge

Presented by: Gerard Stembridge

Cash prize of €100

WINNER:

La Mina De Oro

Jacques Bonnavent

BEST SCREENPLAY

Judged by Donal Beecher

Presented by: Frank Daly

Cash prize of €100

WINNER:

Pentecost

Peter McDonald

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC

Judged by Maurice Seezer

Presented by: Maurice Seezer

Cash prize of €100

WINNER:

El último Canto del Pájaro Cú

Tomás Barreiro

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Judged by Chris O’Dell

Presented by: Chris O’Dell

Cash prize of €100

WINNER:

El último Canto del Pájaro Cú

Emiliano Villenueva

CFSFF 2011: Shortlisted Films in no particular order

 BEST OF FESTIVAL (CFSFF)

Cash prize of €2,000 and an original Pat Connor sculpture

 El último Canto del Pájaro Cú (10m, Mexico )  Alonso Ruizpalacios 

Happy Birthday Timmy  (3m, Ireland)  Johnny Cullen

‘Shoe’ (13m, Ireland)  Nick Kelly

La Mina De Oro (10m, Mexico) Jacques Bonnavent

Cured (12m, Ireland) Mary Redmond

 BEST IRISH SHORTFILM  (CFSFF)

Cash prize of €2,000

 Nietzsche No. 5  (6m, Ireland)  Shaun O’Connor

Rat’s Island  (12m, Ireland) Mike Hannon

Pentecost  (11m, Ireland)   Peter McDonald

Crossword (13m, Ireland)  Vincent Gallagher

‘Shoe’ (13m, Ireland)  Nick Kelly 

Happy Birthday Timmy  (3m, Ireland)  Johnny Cullen

Cured (12m, Ireland)  Mary Redmond

Deep End Dance (6m, Ireland) Conor Horgan

 BEST YOUNG FILMMAKER (U22) (Martin Levis)

Cash prize of €2,000

 Happy Birthday Timmy  (3m, Ireland)  Johnny Cullen

Jittertree (10m, United Kingdom)   Tom Bailey 

Low Battery (9m, Canada)   Zoe Slusar 

Tick Tock (5m, USA)   ien chi

Flipping Channels (7m, Ireland)  Fiona Riordan

 BEST IN CORK  (CFSFF)

Cash prize of €500

Sponsored by Cork County Council & Schull Initiative

 Rat’s Island  (12m, Ireland) Mike Hannon

Nietzsche No. 5  (6m, Ireland)  Shaun O’Connor

The Christening (14m, Ireland, UK)   Oonagh Kearney

All Night Long  ( 13m, Ireland)  Mark Cogan

The Watchmaker’s Time (15m, Ireland) Peter J. Andrews

Baby Boots (15m, Ireland) Daniel O’Connell

BEST DRAMA  Kirsten Sheridan

Cash prize of €200

Mamis kleiner helfer (11m, Germany)  Michael Lavelle 

‘Shoe’ (13m, Ireland)  Nick Kelly

The Christening (14m, Ireland, UK)   Oonagh Kearney

BEST COMEDY   Patrick McCabe

Cash prize of €200

Know Your Enemy  (9m, Ireland)  Eamonn Colfer

Pentecost  ( 11m, Ireland)   Peter McDonald

Nietzsche No. 5  (6m, Ireland)  Shaun O’Connor

Happy Birthday Timmy  (3m, Ireland)  Johnny Cullen

BEST DOCUMENTARY   (Tony Barry)

Cash prize of €200

Library In My Mind (10m, UK)   Jamie Hamer

Rat’s Island  (12m, Ireland) Mike Hannon

The Bookbinder’s Daughter (7m, Ireland) Denis Murphy

Under the Influence with Stephen Mensah (9m, UK)   Corey Macri

BEST EXPERIMENTAL   (Steve Baker)

Cash prize of €200

The Streets of the Invisibles  (14m, Austria)   Remo Rauscher

For Peace Comes Dropping Slow  (12m, Ireland)   Lisa Vandegrift Davala

BEST DANCE (CFSFF)

Cash prize of €200

Deep End Dance (6m, Ireland)   Conor Horgan

Admit One (6m, Ireland)   Steve Woods

BEST ANIMATION   (Davey Ahern, Synth Eastwood)

Cash prize of €200

43 – Forty Three (2m, UK)   Jonathan Mortimer

Luna (8m, Mexico)   Raúl Cárdenas, Rafael Cárdenas

Martyris (8m, Mexico)   Luis Felipe Hernandez Alanis

The Gentleman’s Guide to Villainy (1m, Ireland)   Aidan McAteer

BEST DIRECTION   (Gerard Stembridge)

Cash prize of €100

La Mina De Oro (10m, Mexico)   Jacques Bonnavent

Happy Birthday Timmy  (3m, Ireland)  Johnny Cullen

El último Canto del Pájaro Cú (10m, Mexico )  Alonso Ruizpalacios

Him Himself (11m, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates) Pierre Dawalibi

The Calculus Of Love (14m, UK) Dan Clifton

Pentecost  (11m, Ireland)   Peter McDonald

 BEST SCREENPLAY  (Donal Beecher)

Cash prize of €100

Him Himself (11m, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates) Pierre Dawalibi

Pentecost  (11m, Ireland)   Peter McDonald

The Interview (7m, USA)  Reinaldo Marcus green

Nietzsche No. 5  (6m, Ireland)  Shaun O’Connor

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC   (Maurice Seezer)

Cash prize of €100

The Line   Joseph Conlan

El último Canto del Pájaro Cú (10m, Mexico )  Tomás Barreiro

Cured   Ray Harman

Martyris    Alejandro de Icaza

Him Himself (11m, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates) Jack Gravina

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY   (Chris O’Dell)

Cash prize of €100

El último Canto del Pájaro Cú (10m, Mexico) Emiliano Villenueva

The Calculus Of Love (14m, UK)  Dirk Nell

Him Himself (11m, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates)  Charbel Aouad

Guillaume Laurant is a French author and screenplay writer. He is probably best known for his work as dialogue writer for a number of films directed by one of French cinema’s most original and successful directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

The two first worked together on the film The City of Lost Children in 1995 and have since collaborated on Amélie (2000), A Very Long Engagement (2003) and Mic-Macs (2009).

The son of school-teachers and born in the north-east department of Picardie, Laurant left school after second-level education. He was always obsessively interested in literature.

“I read an enormous amount of books,” he says, “obsessively so – almost to an autistic degree, and for me, real life existed in books. I wanted to really live the life of novels; to see and do as much as I possibly could. I left school as early because for me, the idea of going through formal education didn’t make any sense when you could learn so much from experience.”

Laurant went through a number of occupations – including the obligatory stint in the army – while continually writing. He has published two novels and still sees himself as a writer at heart. Although he’s happy to continue writing both novels and for the screen, he prefers the freedom and solitude of writing to the technical and more constrained working conditions of cinema.

“We’ve done four films together now and I’d say that although my passion is in my writing, our work together has been the most important for me because it elevated my work to a worldwide audience in only the second scenario that I wrote (“City of Lost Children”).”

By the early 1990s, Laurant had moved to Paris, where he continued working and writing and where he had become involved in a small drama group. At this point, he was acting while maintaining his day jobs and had just written his first screenplay. This screenplay was never turned into a film, but it was to have a profound effect on his life in a manner that he could surely could not have dared predict even in his wildest dreams.

“I looked up his (Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s) name in the telephone directory at the post office downstairs from where I was living and I sent him something I had written which more-or-less resembled a screenplay!”

At the time, Jeunet had become a worldwide sensation with his first feature film “Delicatessen”.

“I saw Delicatessen and felt that there was a sort-of common off-beat spirit of fantasy with my kind-of screenplay there. So I went down to the post office and got his address and wrote something like ‘Mr Jeunet, I would like to get your opinion on my work’. And, to my great surprise, he telephoned me. He said he had read it and asked me if we could meet up and he suggested that I work with him on The City of Lost Children.”

Although the script never became a film, some elements were used in different projects and some even found their way into Amélie.

At this point, Jeunet and Laurant have developed what has become a highly successful and lucrative relationship and are currently working together on their next feature film. As well as a commonality of spirit, the two are also self-taught in their fields. For the last three films they made together, Jeunet normally writes the screenplay and directs, with Laurant writing the dialogue.

Laurant has worked with a couple of other directors, but although the writing role he has played in each of the films he has worked on with Jeunet, he says that he is struck by the fact that the working methods were very different in each movie.

“For Amélie, we made a lot of notes individually and brought them together and mixed them around. For A Very Long Engagement, it was different again because we were working from a novel.

“At this point, we know each other very well and often he will write a scene without the dialogue and then send it to me to fill in the dialogue only. It could be a page where he outlines the scene at the start. Then he puts in the name of the character and puts in ‘bla bla bla’ after it and does the same for the next character. He sends it to me by email and then I fill in the ‘bla bla’ bits!”

Laurant is married to the actress Sandrine Bonnaire, with whom they have one daughter. They met…

Given the romantic nature of a lot of the films he’s worked on (in particular Amélie and A Very Long Engagement), I ask him if he is a romantic at heart. To this, he smiles and wonder how exactly you would define “romantic”.

“Well, it’s certainly true that, generally speaking, stories of the emotions and feelings of people interests me a lot more than, say, stories of finance!”

Mic-Macs was released last year to a limited audience. In a market dominated by American films, non-English-language films tend to get relegated to the rather off-putting category of “Arthouse”. This is a distribution  problem that is often difficult to understand in an era of supposed freedom of market distribution and close co-operation between European nations. I tell him that I hadn’t had the opportunity to see the film as its release hadn’t found its way to West Cork yet.

“Yes – they told me that it was released in Dublin, but just in two cinemas and I think it’s on show in Cork as well.

“It seems to be a question of distribution policy on the part of the distributors. Why they want to release a film only in certain places but not in others… If there’s one thing that a scriptwriter can’t get his head around, it’s certainly that! I can’t understand it at all.”

I suggest to him that it should be important for people in every country in Europe to get the chance to see films made by neighbouring countries.

“Most definitely. I’m always quite perplexed at how, for example, when I go to Holland, I see lots of cinemas with American film after American film on display. And yet, there’s quite a rich cinematic industry in Europe but it doesn’t seem visible. In Paris, for example, you’ve quite a unique situation where you have a huge variety of films on show all the time. Even friends of mine from New York have commented on the fact that you don’t get that where they’re from. Whenever you want, you can go and see an old black-and-white film or a non-dubbed American film, or whatever. There are always retrospective festivals and the like showing Chinese, Korean, Russian films. I always took it for granted that the incredible range of cinemas and the diversity of films from all over the world that you have in Paris was in all big cities, but it’s not the case.

“The trouble is that cinema is just a market like any other and if a certain player gets big enough, then he takes control of as many distribution outlets as he can. We should have some sort of policies in place to defend against that. Otherwise, there’s no escape from the law of the market imposing itself completely on the situation.”

I suggest to him that we should perhaps follow the example of the Korean film industry. Some decades back, it was established that all cinemas would be obliged to reserve a minimum space to indigenous Korean films. This means that although foreign films are not pushed out of the market, a section is reserved in all cinemas for Korean films so that the Korean public gets the opportunity to see all Korean films in the cinema. The result is a thriving Korean film industry and a public that are familiar with what’s going in the art in their own country.

“I didn’t know about that one. It strikes me as a very good idea.”

Guillaume Laurant is currently working on a number of projects including a new French three-dimensional film set in Neanderthal era and an animated adaptation of his novel “Happy Hand”.

Interview © Conor Power 2011

If you wish to volunteer to help during the Festival please send an email to Helen Wells at info@fastnetshortfilmfestival.com.

CALL FOR ENTRIES now active

The Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival prefers online entries submitted via Withoutabox.com, which provides cost-saving, paperless submission to film festivals around the world.  Withoutabox’s internet-only submission platform features online submissions via one master entry form, online fee payments, press kits, and the option to use Secure Online Screeners, an economical, eco-friendly, and secure alternative to traditional hard-copy DVD submissions.  Fill out one master submission form and take advantage of quick entry, extended deadlines, and powerful submission management tools.  There’s no extra cost to you, and by submitting, you’ll join Withoutabox’s global filmmaker community and stay in the loop about international exhibition opportunities.  Click to submit your film today.