Strandhill Film and Folk Festival
Strandhill Film and Folk Festival
Programme 1
Featuring short films with a local, rural or coastal theme. Ranging from the literal to the abstract, fiction and nonfiction, these films capture a diverse array of topics, from surfing, farming, and fishing to the historic landing of the Spanish Armada on Sligo’s Streedagh beach, and even an award-winning film shot entirely in Strandhill.
Programme 1 St.Anne’s Church
13:00-15:00
The Fine Line:
Mary K Sullivan - Visual Arts Performance Piece (Ireland) (4.1mins)
The Fine Line depicts the resilient work of island women that is often unnoticed. Fishing and foraging are long-standing traditions of island people, passed down from generation to generation as a means to make money, bring food to the table and for enjoyment. The reliance of island people on nature and the sea often saw island women take on additional roles to their mainland counterparts. Mary Sullivan is a visual artist who lives and works on Bere Island, a small island on the southwest coast of Ireland. Her work turns a critical lens on the complex histories of women’s labour, domestic expectations, island life and identity. The Fine Line, a short film that was presented by Mary as part of her exhibition From the Inside Out and the Outside The film will represent the Crawford Art Gallery for the Artists’ Film International (AFI) 2024 programme.
A Bedoiun Dream:
Tom Johnson - Children's short film (Ireland) (15mins)
Nine-year-old Isra is proud of her Bedouin heritage and dreams of camping in the desert. But she and her parents are evicted from their home without having anywhere else to stay. This cinematically beautiful film was shot entirely in Strandhill.
Bishcuits:
Stuie Cambell - Drama (Ireland) (8mins)
This story follows the daily voyage the hermit man must undertake to retrieve a biscuit for his morning brew.
Armada 1588 - Shipwreck & survival:
Al Butler - DocuDrama (Ireland) (27mins)
A film on the adventures of a Spanish Armada soldier shipwrecked on the Sligo coast in 1588 has been launched and is now available for digital download from SpanishArmadaIreland.com. The film, titled Armada 1588 : Shipwreck & Survival, describes how on September 21st 1588, three Armada ships were wrecked during storms at Streedagh Beach in Sligo, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 Spaniards. In the resulting chaos, a small number of Spaniards managed to escape, and one of those, Captain Francisco de Cuéllar, wrote a full account both of the shipwrecks and the subsequent months he spend desperately trying to avoid the English army sent to hunt him, before his ultimate escape from Ireland.
Oishi:
Alice Ward - Surf Short Documentary (Ireland) (9mins)
An Irish film about an Australian surfer who cooks Japanese food. Directed, filmed and edited by Sligo-based filmmaker Alice Ward.
Clem McInerney - Surf Short Documentary (Ireland) (10mins)
Amygdala:
Crews often have a nucleus around which they revolve, an integral cog meshing the machine together. Sometimes these characters are quietly unassuming, unaware of their inspirational role. Amygdala is a salute to one such Strandhill local – Connor Flanagan. This gloriously shot ode to friendship, features sumptuous cinematography, mind bending Irish waves and physics defying feats of water photography.
A Stone Place:
James Skeritt - Short Documentary (Ireland) (9.9mins)
A Stone Place', is a visual journey showcasing a unique rock that is quarried on the side of the biggest cliffs in Europe and that has created the aesthetic of a small rural town in the west of Ireland.
Clea van der Grijn - Drama (Ireland) (16.44mins)
Flux:
Flux creates a space between now and then. An oneiric land cinematically beautiful and psychologically disturbing. A world exploring death, loss, love, isolation and mental fragility.
For the Love of Horses:
Vincent Monahan - Short Documentary (Ireland) (9.5mins)
Set among the backdrop of rural Ireland’s ploughing championships, this heartfelt documentary captures an elderly farmer’s dedication to preserving the dying tradition of horse-powered farming. Having premiered at the Fastnet Film Festival this year, For the Love of Horses is a nostalgic nod to simpler times. A film that intimately portrays an elderly West of Ireland farmer’s dedication to a fading tradition. Coleman's dream is to construct a fully functional farm powered only by his two magnificent draft horses. Offering a broader commentary on Irish rural life, this is a story of tradition, passion, and the inexorable march of time. Directed, filmed and edited by Sligo filmmaker Vincent Monahan.
