AShbourne 2024 Film Festival

Vue Cinema
Ashbourne, Co.Meath

25th MAY 2024

Ashbourne Film Festival is proud to announce our second film festival on May 25th 2024 in the VUE Cinema, Ashbourne.

Ashbourne Community Initiative in conjunction with SiúySiú Productions Ltd and William Palmer Music and Entertainment Ltd are hosting the “Ashbourne Film Festival”  in the Vue Cinema, Ashbourne. The event is also proudly sponsored by McGroddy Brennan LLP Solicitors.

This year we’re holding a short film competition across six categories with some amazing prizes.

We’re also bringing some great special guests for some extra cinematic glitz and glamour! Information will be added below as details are finalised so check back soon!

Tickets
from €15
Now Available on Eventbrite

OAP & Student Discounts Available

COMPETITION 2024

Enter our short film competition to be in for a chance to win some great prizes.

2024 Sponsorship & Advertising Opportunities

Promote your brand with a unique
Movie Premier Cinematic Experience

As a way of making Ashbourne Film Festival a more inclusive event across the wider community, we’re now offering sponsorship and advertising opportunites to local businesses and organisations looking to enhance their visibility and connect with a diverse audience. This event promises unparalleled exposure in a cinema setting, making it the perfect opportunity for your brand to shine.

Festival Schedule 2024

Morning Session 10am - 1:30pm - Ticket price €15

Festival Official Opening and Introduction of Judging Panel
Short Film Screenings
Announcement of Winners
and Prize Presentations
Photo Opportunities
Refreshments & Live Music in the foyer

Afternoon Session 2pm - 6pm - Ticket price €20

Short Film Screenings
Q&A with film/tv actor Lex Shrapnel (‘Captain America The First Avenger’, ‘Minder’, A Town Called Malice’ , ‘Nine Lives)
Q&A with Tom Shrapnel, director/writer for film/tv
Refreshments & Live Music in the foyer

Evening Session 5pm - Late - Ticket price €25

Refreshments & Live Music in the foyer
Q&A with film/tv composer Stephen Rennicks (An Cailín Ciúin, Room, Frank, Normal People) on the importance of film music and the Composer/Director collaboration.
Festival Closing speeches
Feature Film – ‘An Cailín Ciúin’

FULL DAY FESTIVAL PASS - BRING A FRIEND FOR FREE
Come and Go as you please...
ONLY €45

Note: Our schedule is subject to change as new announcements are made.

Refreshments by Camile Thai
An Cailín Ciúin - Ashbourne 2024 Film Festival

2024 Feature Film An Cailín Ciúin

An Cailín Ciúin is a 2022 Irish coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Colm Bairéad, in his feature film debut. Based on the 2010 short story “Foster” by Claire Keegan, it stars Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennett.

Set in 1981, the film follows a withdrawn nine-year-old girl raised by neglectful parents among many other siblings, who experiences a loving home for the first time when she spends the summer on a farm in Rinn Gaeltacht, County Waterford, alone with a married couple who are distant relatives. It is mostly in the Irish language, although it also contains parts in English.

The Quiet Girl premiered on 11 February 2022 at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it won two awards, before being theatrically released in Ireland on 12 May 2022. It received critical acclaim for its emotional weight, story, and performances. It received four nominations at the 18th Irish Film & Television Awards, winning Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress for the then 11-year old Clinch. It was later elected as Ireland’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, and became the first Irish film in history to achieve the nomination; it also received BAFTA Award nominations for Best Film Not in the English Language and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Guest Speakers 2024

Stephen Rennicks

Stephen Rennicks

Film & TV Composer

An Cailín Ciúin, Room, Frank, Normal People

For twenty years, award-winning Irish composer Stephen Rennicks has been crafting inimitable soundtracks for the best of Independent Cinema and Television. In 2020 Rennicks scored the Emmy nominated ‘Normal People’, continuing his working partnership with director Lenny Abrahamson. The 12-part adaptation of Sally Rooney’s bestselling novel, tells the coming-of-age story of two young people moving from adolescence to young adulthood, against the backdrop of Ireland during the global economic recession. It was one of the most watched shows in 2020 on the BBC and Hulu, with the music on the show receiving outstanding reviews in publications such as Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Vice, The NY Times and The Hollywood Reporter.
Lex Shrapnel

LEx Shrapnel

Film & TV Actor

Captain America The First Avenger, Minder, A Town Called Malice , Nine Lives

Alexander Shrapnel is an actor and producer. As an actor Lex has starred in films including Marvels ‘Captain America : The First Avenger’ , ‘K-19 : The Widowmaker’, ‘Nine Lives’, ‘Breakfast on Pluto’, ‘Thunderbirds’, ‘Extinction’, ‘Flyboys’, ‘An Organisation of Dreams’ , SEAL Team 8: Behind Enemy Lines’ ‘ The Tonto Woman’, ‘Minotaur’, ‘Hamlet Reveneant’.
Tom Shrapnel

Tom Shrapnel

Film & TV Director / Writer

Born in the UK Tom is an award winning writer and director of several short films including ‘The Knackerman’ and ‘Strange Weather’ starring Maxine Peake for Creative England and BFI. He has been mentored by directors Ben Wheatley and Hong Khaou and was also one of the applicants selected for the C4 new writers mentoring scheme.

Natasa Paulberg is an award-winning Australian/Irish composer with compositions for the concert hall, television, film, advertising and gaming.

Brighid Breathnach

Television Producer

Brighid Breathnach is a Commissioning Editor for TG4 and is Executive Producer on a varied slate of multi-platform programming on behalf of the broadcaster.

Bob Corkery

TV & Film Director

Bob Corkery started working in film production beginning in London, and later in RTÉ in Dublin and has enjoyed a long career in Broadcast TV Film Production, TV Programme series and Independent documentary projects.

Festival Schedule 2023

5pm - 6:15pm

Short film screenings. These will be followed by a Q & A session with the film makers/composers

6:30pm - 7pm

Launching of a short film competition for Ashbourne Film Festival 2024 presented by RTÉ producer Brighid Breathnach and TV & Film Director Bob Corkey

7pm - 7:30pm

Live film music played by The Dublin String Quartet. Refreshments available!

7:30pm - 8pm

Special Guest speaker Natasa Paulberg gives us an insight into her career as a composer for screen and the music of Ennio Morricone.

8pm - Late

Screening of the classic film ‘Cinema Paradiso’

Note: Our schedule is subject to change as new announcements are made.

Some highlights from the
2023 Ashbourne Film Festival...

short film screenings 2024

Along with a selection of winning entries for our 2024 Competition we will also be screening the following award-winning short films.

Room Taken Short Fiilm - Ashbourne Film Festival 2024

ROOM TAKEN

Directed By TJ O’Grady-Peyton
Written by Michael Whelan
Produced by Colmán Mac Cionnaith

Starring : Brid Brennan and Gabriel Adewusi

Having just arrived in Ireland, Isaac is part of the rapidly growing homeless population. One day, while charging his phone in a coffee shop, he meets an elderly blind woman. After forgetting her bag in the cafe, Isaac returns it to her. Once inside her home and in desperate need of a place to stay, Isaac sneaks upstairs and begins to live there, unbeknownst to Victoria. This leads to a series of unknown interactions in which Isaac works to stay hidden from a woman who experiences the world through sound. Eventually, a strange bond develops between the two.

Strange Weather by Tom Shrapnel

STRANGE WEATHER

by Tom Shrapnel

Starring : Lex Shrapnel, Maxine Peake, Matti Houghton

Two strangers witness a mysterious natural phenomenon that reawakens their senses and draws their lives together.

The Pageturner

The Pageturner

by Siúbhán Ní Ghríofa

Starring : Iarla McGowan , Seamas Griffin, John Palmer, Siúbhán Ni Ghríofa

A local of Ashbourne Siúbhán is a violinist in the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
A lover of films and in particular film music she wrote and directed her first short film ‘The Pageturner’ along with writing the films score.
The main theme for the film was recorded by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra with trumpet soloist Will Palmer (Brass Warriors) and can be heard regularly on RTÉ Lyric fm.
Since the film’s premier last year at the Ashbourne Film Festival the short has gone on to win several awards including : Brooklyn International Short Awards, LA Independent Women Film Awards, London Movie Awards, New York Movie Awards, Philadelphia International Filmmaker Awards: ‘Best Female Short Director’ ,Edinburgh Film Awards, Tokyo Shorts, Naples Film Awards, Frida Film Festival,8 & Halfilm Awards, Robinson Film Awards (International Film Festival).

RETURN TO SKYE

by Kurt Rosenberg

Kurt fell in love with the Isle of Skye, Scotland, during Spring Break from the University of Bath, some 45 years ago. He has returned to Skye several times since then – it keeps calling him back!  Kurt was a British History Major at University.  So, when he composed the music and wrote the lyrics for the Return to Skye song, Kurt always knew that it would be about a Scottish Clansman who fought at the Battle of Culloden, survived the melee, and fled to Skye to escape the pursuing British soldiers … just like Bonnie Prince Charlie did.  Once the song was finished, Kurt asked Tim Gorman to orchestrate it.  The WM Palmer Orchestra recorded the music in Dublin, Ireland and Jake Morgan conducted.  When the soundtrack was ready to go, Mallard Productions, Glasgow, Scotland produced the film.  Brent Rogers co-edited the film and Zach Stevens was a producer on the project.  The film was shot on location on the Isle of Skye and in the Culloden Battlefield’s ancient, thatched-roofed bothy.  Kurt thanks all involved for contributing to producing such a phenomenally lovely, cinematic, and poignant film.

The Knackerman by Tom Shrapnel

THE KNACKERMAN

by Tom Shrapnel

Starring : Donald Sumpter, Adam Long, Charlotte Luxford, Teresa Banham

An aging Knacker, responsible for the disposal of dying horses must face his own mortality,and in doing so entrust responsibility to the next generation.

location

VUE Cinema
Ashbourne Retail Park,
Rath, Ashbourne, Co. Meath
Eircode: A84 YX83

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