Young Filmmakers Set To Première In Belfast

Budding young filmmakers in Northern Ireland have been getting their work on film as two cross-community groups have come together and have made a short film in a week.

It was part of a fun and educational initiative led by Cinemagic International Film and Television Festival for Young People with support from Belfast City Council.

Since June 2010, young people aged 13-18 have been involved in the cross-community film project, entitled 'Reel Legacy', meeting fortnightly to participate in film clubs, drama masterclasses and workshops focusing on cultural and historical issues important to them.

The culmination of the project was a week long film camp where twenty young people shortlisted from each area were tasked with the challenge of creating a short film from devising its concept to writing it, acting in it, and filming it.

The young people participated in workshops under the guidance of a director Andy McDonagh of Eclipso Pictures who worked intensively with the young people over the course of the week and in the weeks leading up to the film camp.

Lorna McCausland, Cinemagic said: "With valued support from Belfast City Council we were able to offer new opportunities to the young people of Dee Street and Short Strand community groups to work together on a cross community basis on a common goal.

"The project allowed the participants to work with others from different backgrounds, to create channels of communication and interaction between them and to do this through the medium of film.

"The year long project has helped develop not only the young people's filmmaking skills but also their inter-personal skills and the process will contribute to a deeper and new understanding of cultural difference," she said.

Kerrie Sweeney, Tourism Culture and Arts Manager with Belfast City Council, said: "Belfast City Council is a proud supporter of Cinemagic: the organisation has more than 20 years' experience in the delivery of film festivals, offering young people in Belfast an opportunity to develop their skills and talents.

"Cinemagic has developed a track record in working with community groups and young people across the city and we are delighted to be part of this project.

"The Reel Legacy project has increased cultural activity within the two communities that currently depict a weak cultural infrastructure, experiencing high levels of deprivation. " Kerrie continued.

"The objective of the Development and Outreach funding is to enhance Community empowerment and self-determination whilst embedding local control and supporting local and this has been delivered within the communities by Cinemagic Reel Legacy Project."

The short film's title will be unveiled at a VIP screening in each community area in June and it will also feature during the 2011 Cinemagic International Film and Television Festival for Young People in Belfast in November.

(BMcC/GK)