City’s inaugural film festival attracts international interest
The festival was founded by local film-maker Stephen Byrne to promote local, national and international films and will run from November 16-18 in various city venues, with an opening night on the 15th.
“Every major city in Ireland has a film festival and each year these festivals get bigger and bigger, attracting more people from around the world to their cities,” says Mr Byrne.
On the agenda for the three-day event — which has the backing of Fáilte Ireland, Waterford City Council, Waterford Crystal and a number of other local businesses — will be feature films, short films, animation and documentaries. Some will already have been screened and won awards around the world, while some will be premiering at the festival.
The October edition of START magazine, which has a distribution of 5,000 around the south-east, will include a supplement on the festival.
Films have already been confirmed from the US, Britain, Canada, Spain Brazil, Portugal, Germany, and Australia.
“The festival is not just for filmmakers but it is for film lovers who will get a chance to see films from around the world, films they can not yet see in the cinema or rent or buy in the shops,” adds Mr Byrne.
The organiser has been involved in making films for more than six years and won an award in New York in 2005. The idea for a Waterford event came to him last year while in New York and working on post-production for The Headmaster, a film about Padraig Pearse and the 1916 Rising.
“I was preparing to get everything organised for the promotion of the film when it dawned on me that my home city of Waterford did not have a film festival.”
He says he has received a “fantastic response” from film-makers worldwide
Venues for the screenings will be the Revolution Bar, Mason’s, the Tower Hotel and the Granville Hotel.
* Waterfordfilmfestival.com
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