Fastnet Short Film Winner up for an Oscar

Two of the five short films nominated for this year's Academy Awards have been filmed in Ireland. Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane's Pentecost and Terry and Oorlagh George's 'The Shore' are in competition on Febrary 26th for an Oscar. 'Pentecost' won best Screenplay last May at the Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival in Schull. The film's opening scene is set in the Sacristy of a small church where the local priest is coaching a group of altar boys as if they are about to play a major league match.

Damien Lynch, one of the young altar boys has been banned by his father from watching his favorite team compete in their first ever European Cup Final. If he does well at today's mass, Pentecost Sunday, he has a chance of redeeming himself and the ban being lifted. 

McDonald takes the tone of a sports movie, placed in the surrounds of the Catholic Church of the 1970's, with the hush of the church overlaid by the sound of crowds cheering. When it screened in Schull it really resonated with the audience. "I think people in Ireland particularly connected with the material. Hopefully, it's universal but ... they understand the role the Mass plays within a small town like that, it's very much a public event," McDonald said.

Our very own Demian Bichir, Mexican star of the Runway is the surprise Oscar Nominee in line for Best Actor in his role in A Better Life, along side George Clooney and Brad Pitt. "The main hope is that more people will see the movie and learn about the eleven million undocumented people in the United States, who are invisible to Americans," Bichir said.

The story follows an undocumented single father in East LA, trying to provide a future for his son away from the ghetto and the gangs. He manages to scrape together enough money to purchase a pickup truck to start his own gardening business only to have it stolen. Not being able to go to the police he and his son begin a quest across LA to recover the truck. Click on the link to See Demian's message to the Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival and his friends in West Cork....

The Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival will take place in Schull again this year over the last weekend in May, from Thursday 24th to Sunday 27th. It delivers a unique festival experience in 'Distributed Cinema', Schull's very own intranet network dedicated to short film, with screenings in various venues around the village of Schull. The network connects through Ethernet cable and wireless links, to its own short film archive of submissions, from the past three years. Submissions may be streamed to any of the network connected venues around town. There are 9 dedicated film festival intranet wifi spots in Schull which enables anyone with a lap top, iPad or smart phone access to the archive. "This year's programme is shaping up to be the best yet, watch this space", said festival Chairman Maurice Seezer. 

For further information visit www.fastnetshortfilmfestival.com