GMIT Castlebar Whitewater Shorts Film Festival 2007

Following on from the festivals in 2004,2005 and 2006 we are hosting the 4^th Irish Whitewater Shorts Film Festival. Watch a variety of short features introduced by their directors and get a real feel for what people have been up to for the last year or two. This years festival kicks off on March 23rd 2007, in the Linden Hall Arts Centre, in Castlebar. Co. Mayo.

GMIT Castlebar Whitewater Film Festival 2007 - What's It All About?

The idea for this film festival grew out of a desire for people to see a wide selection of the latest footage of what people were at in whitewater kayaking within Ireland and abroad. There has been a huge upsurge in interest in video kayaking and with cheaper, better equipment people have been putting together some great footage. With a great range of international venues for kayaking now established we have had some great shows in the past. It is interesting that some of the features on Irish Rivers have held their own in terms of content and professionalism. The idea is to have a festival of whitewater films -so thats it. A great variety of films, an iintroduction from the director and a pint in the bar afterwards.

The All Important After Party.

As we all know you can’t have any kind of paddling event in Ireland without having an after party. And we won’t be breaking the mould with this event. So the plan is to have a live band playing in one of the many local pubs after the film fest followed by a dance off at the local night club or in Super Mac’s, whichever’s handier. Plans are currently being finalised and further information will be posted as soon as it becomes available.

After-Party Update:

The Son’s of GingerBread have confirmed that they will be playing the night of the March 23^rd at a local venue not a 5 minute walk from the Linden Hall. Big band, with some big talent. So get those dancin’ shoes on…

Castlebar, the Adventure Capital of Ireland.

The Irish Whitewater Film Festival has been held for the last four years in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, Ireland. There are a number of reasons for this choice of location. Well actually there are two. Castlebar is the academic base for Ireland’s only BA in Outdoor Education at GMIT Castlebar and with good reason. Within an hours drive in any direction of Castlebar there is a multitude of activities available. These include kayaking (river, surf and sea), surfing, rock-climbing, hillwalking, bouldering, caving, mountain biking, sailing, windsurfing, cliff jumping etc. You get the idea. The original concept behind the film fest is the brain child of Stephen Hannon, one of the Outdoor Education courses chief lecturers.

The second and perhaps the most important reason from a paddlers point of view is that the area’s surrounding Castlebar offer a hugh resource to paddlers of all abilities. Historically Mayo receives the largest amount of rainfall in Ireland per annum. So it’s not a bad spot to be for paddling. To me personally what makes the area of Mayo particularly special for paddling is it’s abundance of mountain creeks and world class surf. Within 50 minutes of Castlebar there are the internationally renowned point and reef breaks of Easkey and numerous others that I would be beated up for mentioning, so I'll keep my mouth shut. And that’s only the tip of the ice berg. Co. Mayo has a hugh concentration of surf breaks along its coast.

Paddling in Mayo is in itself an adventure. Especially if your willing to go off the beaten track. In four years local paddlers have racked up about 7 first/repeated descents in the area. I think that this speaks volumes for the nature of the paddling in Mayo and gives some idea of what an untapped resource it is. When you have the likes of Ali Donald saying that one of his favourite Irish runs is the Shranalong, Co. Mayo then you know you’re onto a good thing.

A run down on some of the runs can be found on Irishwhitewater.com. A big shout out must go to Mr.Seanie Byrne for all hard work he put into designing the site and administrating it. A feat made all the more impressive given the fact that he’s studying for finals this year. I think I speak for allot of people when I say that it’s a great resource for all Irish paddles.

Graham Clarke.

Film Fest Organiser.

Last Years Entires

Last years Film Fest showcased over 10 short films including an entry for the first time from outside Ireland. The films were a mix of both commercial and non commercial. Entries like Rob Coffeys award winning “Where The Sun Never Sets” and the WIT Kayak Club entry were both well received despite the differences in editing and film making experience between the two films and producers. This is what makes the GMIT Castlebar Film Fest special. The fact that it caters for most levels of editing and production ability. Last years final selection is listed below. Photo courtesy of LiveOnceMedia.com

Commercial Category

Film Title - Editor(s)/Producer(s)
“Where The Sun Never Sets” - Rob Coffey
“Baidarka” - Team S7G
“Tir Na N’Og” - Mick Reyonlds - Eclipse Productions
“Huckd” - Wet N'Twisted Productions

Non - Commercial Category

Film Title - Editor(s)/Producer(s)

“Mayhem & Madness” - WIT Kayak Club (Tony Walsh)

“Gashed” - Dave Crerar & Cillian Dellaney

“Uganda 2005’ - Killian Kelly

“The Journey” - Alan Judge

“WW Czech” - Lipno

“Poll Dubh” (The Black Hole) - Eoghan Powell

Entry Guidelines

1. Sending in a film to the Irish Whitewater Film Festival implies acceptance of its rules and regulations.
2. Entries must be received by February 25^th 2007. In rare exceptions this can be extended for particular submissions.
3. Entries can be submitted on MiniDV, DVD or CD. MiniDV and DVD are preferred but we can cater for CD’s as well. Both NTSC and PAL formats are accepted. If a film submission is in NTSC format please specify this in the application form or through correspondence.
4. All copyrights will remain the property of the videographer/editor/director/producer. However the Irish Whitewater Film Festival and its committee may use the content insofar as it is relevant to the festival. Films submitted to the film fest will not be broadcast or screened outside of the event unless such an agreement has already been arranged between the film maker and the committee.
5. As a general rule film submissions will not be returned to an applicant. If an applicant wishes that a film submission to be returned please specify this on the entry form or through correspondence.
6. Any foreign language submissions should be submitted with appropriate subtitles.
7. Entrants are requested to submit a brief bio of their entry and their organisation/club/production company etc. Promotional materials should also be submitted with each entry which will consist of two still images that can be used in conjunction with the promotion of the film and the film festival.
8. Entrants grant the festival organisers the right to copy an entry in part or in its entirety in any media format for the film festival.

The Format

To make the festival work we have to have some quality control. For this reason we cannot guarantee to show each film and a final decision on whether a film will be screened will rest with the festival committee. From the very first festival all entries have been limited to a maximum of 10 minutes and a minimum of 3 mins so we get to see lots of films in the one session. What has really added to the atmosphere and occasion over the previous years is that each director introduces their film and says a few words. We have had some difficulty previously with the variety of formats people use and for this reason we would like to have each entry film as early as possible. We can cope with nearly all film formats. Although DVD, CD and Mini DV are preferred.

The cut off date for entries is the 25^th of February.