Los Angeles may have just staged the Oscars but for locals, the real glamourous film event was in Bundoran last week.
Eclipse Cinemas Bundoran were delighted to host the inaugural Magh Ene TY Young Filmmaker Awards on Thursday 27th of February.
The initiative was the brainchild of TY Coordinator Mr John Reilly and Collie Mac Pháidín from Eclipse Cinemas.
Mr Reily tasked his young students with making their own short films based on their SPHE syllabus.
The talented young pupils wrote, acted, directed and edited the films themselves, all under the stewardship of Mr Reilly of course, who also had a starring role in more than one of the films.
Mr Reilly and his co-presenter Zara
The films covered themes such as bullying, peer pressure, body positivity and the importance of friendship – and they showed how cine-literate they were with films in a number of genres including silent movies, thrillers, an improvised unscripted drama and even a Tarintino-esque gangster caper featuring a cameo from the Ballyshannon Gardaí.
The students threw themselves into the project showing a passion and dedication that would put Spielberg to shame, even if like their illustrious Hollywood counterparts there were a few reshoots and missed deadlines.
Once completed, they were sent off to Eclipse Cinemas to convert them for the silver screen in time for the big premiere.
Eclipse Directors Daniel Barrett, John O Connell and Martin Barrett were delighted to be able to give back something to the local community that has supported them through thick and thin and donated their biggest screen and cinema facilities free of charge so the students could bring their families to see their films on the big screen.
Cinema Owners Daniel & Martin Barrett
The cinema staff and students decorated the cinema for the occasion laying out the red carpet and providing drinks and snacks for all the guests and Aideen from Marketsquare Balloons donated a ballon arch to make the lobby even more spectacular.
But it wasn’t just the cinema that was glammed up. The dress code was “fabulous”, and both boys and girls were dressed up to the nines.
Daryna Shevchecko, one of the cinema staff was on hand to take photos of all the glamourous stars and their families to have a momento of their big night.
The effort was well worth it as over 200 students and their families showed up to fill screen 1. There was a real sense of occasion in the air with excited students and parents both bursting with pride and nervous anticipation.
They were so proud of the work that the young people had put in, but they hadn’t seen any of the movies. But what if they were rubbish?
Fortunately, there was no need to worry there.
In fact, such was the quality that the judges all had different films in their top 3.
The panel was headed by award winning writer, actor and filmmaker Caroline Harvey Caroline, whose films have played film festivals all over Europe was astounded by the depth of talent on show. “I wish I had an opportunity to take part in an event like this when I was a student,” said Caroline “They already have a grasp on storytelling and editing that shows a real flair for film making.”
She even said she had taken a few notes on who she might approach for her next movie so watch this space.
Collie Mac Pháidín & Caroline Harvey with the winning film makers for High Stakes at the Magh Ene Oscars
I hope they remember us when they get to Hollywood.
However there had to be some winners and after some heated debate among the judges, the winners were revealed.
Best Dressed: Michalina Florek, Riley Loughlin.
Best Score: Kaya Kerins for the film Automobile
Best Editing: Annie Warnock and Wiktoria Kowaleczko for the film Rewind
Best Script: Michalina Florek, Aoibhe Halpin, Anastasiia Starodobets for the film Stalker
Best Actors: Kelvin Duffy in the film A Stolen Life, Zara McLaughlin for the films Stalker and Rewind
Best Picture: Owen Dowdican, Bruno Versilo, Samir Mohammed, Oskar Wochnik, Rory Rooney and Wiktor Szulmanski for the film High Stakes.
Eclipse Cinemas’ Collie Mac Pháidín said “It’s been a great couple of months for cinemas with the success of Wicked, Moana and Bridget Jones but nothing has given us more pleasure than being able to do this for our local community” And he added with a wink “ hearing them say , ‘wow it looks so different on the big screen instead of my phone’ is very pleasing to all of us who love cinema.”
Collie and Mr Reilly plan on making this an annual event and would like to open it up to other local schools too. The technology on your average phone has creative possibilities that the movie makers of the past could only have dreamt of.
“We may be the forgotten county when it comes to infrastructure,” said Collie “but with regards to talent and creativity, the northwest is bursting with potential. The young people, like the rest of us, just need a little bit of support to unlock it.”
Check out more photos from the night, by Daryna Shevchecko,
