17 January 2017
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Film In Cork, supported by the Arts Offices of Cork City and County Councils is delighted to announce that a shortlist of six scripts has been selected by the judging panel in its 2017 Short Script Award.
Almost 130 scripts were submitted prior to the December deadline, a number that far surpassed what was anticipated. Speaking about this, Rossa Mullin, CEO, Film In Cork said “The huge response to the call for short scripts was very encouraging, with both emerging and more established writers from all over the country submitting their work.”
Tasked with drawing up the shortlist were writer/ director, Ben Cleary, whose short film “Stutterer” won the Oscar for Best Short at last year’s Academy Awards, and Cork writer, Stefanie Preissner, whose show “Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope” was a major hit on RTE last Autumn.
Speaking about the difficulty in arriving at a final selection from a longlist, Ben commented “It was both enjoyable and challenging trying to whittle the selection of scripts down to the shortlist. I wish we could have included more to be honest. There were lots of funny scripts, lots of poignant ones, and in general, lots of imagination across the board too, which was great to see. I look forward to seeing what gets made.”
Stefanie added that “Reading the scripts was a very uplifting experience, looking at the wealth of Irish talent. It makes me feel very excited and hopeful for the future of Irish cinema.”
The shortlisted projects are:
- Blindsided by Ciara Hyland
- Earthly Bonds by Alan Dunne
- Foretold by Ciarán Collins
- Mind’s Eye by Eleanor McSherry
- Support by Mathew Roche
- Woodpeckers by Mike O’Dowd
These projects will now go forward to the interview stage to be held towards the end of February, with one project receiving €8,000 towards the costs of production of their short, along with mentoring and support to assist with locations, production, and devising a festival release strategy later in the year.
