The Irish Film Board is currently accepting submissions for the upcoming round of its Short Shorts funding programme. The deadline for the scheme is Friday, 6th May and the theme for this round of submitted projects is Food.
The Short Shorts scheme has funding for up to seven, 3-5 minute films and aims to encourage the making of very short films that are innovative, provocative or in some way risky and rule-breaking. A unique feature of the scheme is that the films must now conform to a particular genre or theme chosen for each year. In 2008, Short Shorts had to be musicals; in 2009, they had to be films with no dialogue and last year the theme was ‘Ireland, I Love You'. This year’s theme is Food.
A release from the group explains the reasoning behind the new theme, saying: ”As a central theme in all of our daily lives, food means different things to different people but there is no doubt that for most it is a passionate love affair. There have been many great films based around life’s gastronomic pleasures, think ‘Babette's Feast’, ‘Chocolat’, ‘Mystic Pizza’ and ‘Waitress’ to name but a few. This year we want filmmakers to inspire audiences with their take on food.”
Films may be made in Irish or English with Irish applications being actively encouraged. Shorts may also take the form of animation or live-action. The budget allowance for each chosen short will be a maximum of €15,000 and applications are invited from both up-and-coming and experienced producer/director/writer teams all of whom should have worked previously on at least one short film in their chosen field. There is no limit to the number of SHORT SHORTS an individual may apply to make.
Application forms should be downloaded from BSÉ/IFB's website, completed in full, and sent - together with all the additional materials requested - to BSÉ/IFB's head office in Galway. Further information is available at the Irish Film Board website and the application form is available to download by clicking here.
