18/03/2009
Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 16th March 2009
Killinarden Students Film Competing in FRESH Film Festival!!
Johnny Splitz, a short film made by a group of talented young people from fifth year in Killinarden Community School Tallaght, has been named one of the winning films of the Dublin regional heat and is going on to the final in Limerick on March 25th for this years Fresh Film Festival competition. Fresh Film Festival is a highly regarded festival based in Limerick and showcases films by young filmmakers under the age of 18.
Johnny Splitz looks at the familiar story of teenage pregnancy and its effects in an unusual, entertaining and original way. Johnny is a typical teenager. He has just broken up with his girlfriend and is quite happy about it. Little does he know that soon he will be begging her to take him back, buying bigger pants and making history as the first pregnant man in Ireland!
Students worked with filmmakers, Olivia Fitzsimons, Barry Hamilton from DCTV, and Orla Russell Conway, throughout the project, which took place last year. With the assistance of filmmakers from Dublin Community Television (DCTV) and South Dublin County Councils Film Programme, students scripted, acted, directed, and filmed the piece. Since the completion of the project some members of the group have become part of a new youth-led filmmaking group supported by the Arts Council and South Dublin County Councils Arts Office, Tallaght Young Filmmakers (TYF).
Noreen Walsh from Killinarden Community School stated, We are very excited at being nominated for Fresh Festival. Jonny Splitz was our first venture into film making. It has been a wonderful experience for the students involved and for the whole school. We could never have imagined, at the outset that we would be sending students to a Film Festival!
Produced by Dublin Community Television (DCTV), the film was originally screened as one of the first featured shorts for the launch of DCTV during the summer of 2008.
Johnny Splitz will be screened in Limerick on March 25th.
The project was supported by the RAPID Programme and the Dormant Accounts Fund.
For more information, please contact Victoria Durrer, Youth Arts Coordinator, Arts Office, South Dublin County Council at vdurrer@sdublincoco.ie or 080860479535.