Join us for Ennistymon's first ever community film festival

After the buzz of 2023's screening of local short films, A Pot of Films is back and 2024 sees us expand into a full on Film Festival!

On Saturday, 24 August we'll be celebrating all things film and holding workshops for adults and children from respected facilitators in the industry. The evening events will take place in The Courthouse Gallery and will see the screening of short films from Irish filmmakers and the award-winning feature documentary 'North Circular' followed by a Director’s Q&A with Luke McManus.

We look forward to sharing the re-filled Pot with you soon.

A big thank you goes to Liam Grant for his support and Clare County Council for funding this festival along with our sponsors Fitzpatrick's SuperValu Ennistymon, The Aloe Tree, Jimi's Barber Shop, Ultra Design, Cooley's House and The Milk Step. We would also like to thank our Friends of A Pot of Films, The Falls Hotel & Spa, Hayes' Print, Pot Duggans, Anja Kolic Photography, Teach Ceoil and Airmid Natural Handmade Skincare.

Here is the programme for the weekend:

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Saturday, 24 August 2024

Daytime Workshops:

11am - 1pm DIY Filmmaking for Young People (11 - 18 year olds)

Venue: Upstairs at The Courthouse Gallery & Studios

Are you a budding filmmaker or director? Join filmmaker and co-founder of Black Bark Films Jo Barker, as she guides you in making your own 60 second short to be screened in the first section of our evening film screenings. A fantastic opportunity to have fun and explore a new hobby and see if filmmaking is for you! Specifically for teens between the ages of 11 and 18 years. Ticket includes access to the screening of the short films only, not the feature screening.

11am - 12:30pm Acting from a Director's Lens (18 +)

Venue: Teach Ceoil

Join the charismatic actor Jacinta Sheerin and fabulous local filmmaker and co-founder of Cracking Light Productions, Maeve Stone as they bring high energy for the morning and show you how to dazzle behind the camera.

1:30pm - 3pm Developing and Pitching Your Story (18 +)

Venue: Teach Ceoil

Do you have a story and an idea but are struggling to develop it into the film you have already directed in your imagination? Join writer and creative producer Aisling Magill with freelance script editor and development executive Norma Howard with their in-depth knowledge of the film industry. Find all your nuggets here revealing top tips on how to develop an idea into a pitch, ready to apply for funding.

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Evening Screenings:

Venue: The Courthouse Gallery & Studios

5pm - 7pm

Screening of Short Films from DIY Filmmaking Workshop Participants    

Short Film Finalists (in order of screening)

• 'The Waiting is Over', Dermott Petty
• 'Black Forest', Val O'Connor
• 'Mná an Chláir', Ger Ryan, Teresa Carmody O'Shea, Alan Killoran
• 'A Woman of Aran', Thomas O'Donoghue
• 'The Talk', Jonathan Huges
• 'Yellow Belt', Allyn Quigley
  
• 'A Duckumentary', Kyra Owens
  
• 'The Building and Burning of a Refugee Camp', Dennis Harvey
  
• 'Melted Away', Nina Achtelik
  
• 'Fleeting', Louisa Connolly-Burnham
  
• 'Being Put Back Together', David McDonagh
  

7:30pm - 9:30pm

Screening of award-winning feature film 'North Circular', followed by Q&A with Director Luke McManus

North Circular is a documentary musical that travels the length of Dublin's North Circular Road, from the Phoenix Park to Dublin Port, exploring the history, music and streetscapes of a street that links some of the country's most beloved and infamous places.

Told in black and white 4:3 Academy ratio, the film evokes many narratives from the history of the city and nation, from colonialism, to mental health, to the struggle for women’s liberation while also engaging with urgent issues of today, including the battle to save the legendary Cobblestone Pub, centre of Dublin’s recent folk revival, from destruction at the hands of cynical property developers.

The film also includes musical performances from artists local to the North Circular, including Lisa O'Neill, John Francis Flynn, Séan Ó Túama, Eoghan O'Ceannabháin, Ian Lynch & Gemma Dunleavy.

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Sunday, 26 August

Sleepy Sunday Screening at The Salmon Bookshop

Venue: The Salmon Bookshop and Literary Centre

2pm - 4pm

Feel like taking a chilled out Sunday? Come join us at the beautiful Salmon Bookshop as we dive into the life of legendary seannós singer, Joe Heaney with a screening of 'A Song of Granite' by acclaimed filmmaker Pat Collins.

A Song of Granite celebrates the genius of the musician while painting an unflinching portrait of a deeply enigmatic and complex man. Born in Connemara in 1919, Joe Heaney was shaped by the myths, music and songs of his upbringing. By the time of his death in Seattle in May 1984, he was internationally acclaimed as one of the most important figures in Irish traditional music.

Casting Míchéal Ó Confhaola, an actor and singer of fittingly raw intensity, in the central role of mid-life Heaney and drawing on a range of archival film, pitch-perfect recreations and haunting abstractions to represent the exterior realities and interior workings of Heaney’s psyche, Collins has created a work of musical integrity and cinematic purity – his most exquisite work to date.