I think the Arts Council's important funding for film organisations and film makers is under-reported. The above is a table I've put together on this year's funding offers to film organisations and a look at how the total funding available has decreased over the last five years. Good to see that a new organisation, Kerry Film Festival, has been funded this year.
Funding for film makers so far this year is as follows:
Bursary Awards:
Donal Foreman, €4,000
Christina Gangos, €8,000Clare Langan, €7,000
Andrew Legge, €5,000
Trish McAdam, €5,000
Project Awards:
Christina Gangos, €21,000
- To produce a series of intimate filmic documents, portraying people immersed in Limerick’s gang-wars, which will be presented in several different forms including gallery exhibitions and in cinemas.
Orla Mc Hardy, €42,000
- To explore the possibilities of relationships between different media, techniques and methods of display in order to make and present experimental work in film. To explore ideas of place and spoken language informed by Donegal and its people.
Dara McCluskey, €5,000
- To make a short film with an approach combining the creative processes of film, dance and visual arts.
Other awards -
Bollywood Ireland Ltd 3rd Indian Film Festival of Ireland €2,500
Dingle Film Festival €8,500
UCD Imagine Science Film Festival €6,000
Access Cinema - €8,950
- Films from the Southern Mediterranean: A curated programme of films that will tour to 3 of access CINEMA'S 35mm/digital venues.
Darklight Film Festival €7,500
- The Darklight Circus Tour: A nationwide tour bringing innovative film and video work to celebrate and promote local grassroots and emerging talent.
Irish Film Institute €10,295
- Mayo Ciné-Concert Tour: Re-animating a series of silent films made in Mayo between 1908 and 1960 which will be restored and presented with a new musical and sound effects score devised by harpist Cormac de Barra and musicians Colm and Rossa Ó Snodaigh from Kíla.
3 comments:
That's great information IFP. One thing that stands out from your Table is how much funding is allocated to the burgeoning number of film festivals here.
In fact in excess of 35% of the 2012 offers listed are for film festivals (it is more than 35% because the IFI hosts a number of festivals each year).
Do we have far too many film festivals? I think so, and that they have been commodified beyond credibility. Standards at many of these events are very low - it often seems to be a case of getting people together to watch a few videos, then retire to the bar - which is I suspect the real raison d'etre of these events.
Does the Arts Council carry out any quality checks in this area - or do they care? Do they have the competence to know what a quality, genuine film festival is?
Apologies - I made an error in the last comment - the percentage monies allocated to film festivals from your list exceeds 26%, not 35% - misread the 2012 total figure.
64% going to the capital, once you allocate the IFIs to the capital (arguably not a straightforward matter. Dubliners may quibble about national status but regional viewers see precious little regional activity. )
Strategy seems to be holding the brakes as the economy slides, would like to see more critical engagement than that, the AC hates to to redistribute, and we need more openness to new parties and flexibility than such a simple response as cut all by ten percent per annum. Hate to see Darklight cut so much, given their experimental commitment for example, whacking them down has a magnified impact. Their work points to the future of cinema, needs feeding not cutting.
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