Watch: Young Filmmaker of the Year spreads her wings with a look at teen romance and mental health
Ella Nethercott, 17, from Rathgar, Dublin has taken home the title of Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year 2021 for her film ‘Learning to Dance Like a Bird’. Ella (centre) pictured with actors Erin O’Neill Bailey and Darragh Geraghty
Young film-maker Ella Nethercott from Rathgar, Co Dublin, has taken home the title of Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year in 2021's Fresh International Film Festival.
The Ireland's Young Filmmaker of the Year senior category of awards took place online via the festival’s YouTube channel, with Stephen Byrne and Justine Stafford hosting the ceremony.
Nethercott's short ‘Learning to Dance Like a Bird’, about a young girl balancing a burgeoning crush with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, was the winning entry out of over 1,200 submissions.
Speaking about her win, Ella said: “It was an absolute honour to win Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year. I’m extremely proud of myself and of how much I have grown throughout this process. It has been a huge honour to participate in the Fresh Film Festival over the last two years and I’m so grateful for the platform they gave me to express myself and meet like-minded people.
"I had such a genuinely incredible time making the film but to then receive recognition on top of that just made the experience all the more unforgettable."
The young director wanted to address the twin topics of teenage romance and the widening public conversation regarding mental health and its representation in popular culture, with protagonist Eddie, played by Erin O'Neill-Bailey.
"I spent a lot of time developing Eddie. She is a character that is very close to my heart and I put a lot of work into exploring what made her tick. After my last film, I wanted to follow real people and real issues, which is what I’m planning on doing in the future. I didn’t want to romanticise the hardships of mental health and so I really tried to emphasise those raw struggles, while still presenting a teenage romance above it all.”
Catch up on this year's Fresh International Film Festival, including runners-up, junior winners, and the Cartoon Saloon-endorsed animation award, here.
