This year’s group of talented emerging filmmakers from Nemeton TV and South East Technological University premiered their exciting new dramas and documentaries on May 10 in Dungarvan’s cinema to a captive audience.
There was a fascinating range of compelling films on show from the Higher Diploma in Television and Media Production. Some of the films have already won awards while others will soon be showing in festivals around the country and on TG4.
Two filmmakers from Gaeltacht na nDéise focus on sport in their documentaries. In Ultra, Lia Nic Craith traces the gut wrenching journey of an athlete who was fighting with his mental health and found healing in extreme endurance mountain running. Tomás de Faoite from An Rinn takes part in his cruellest race ever – 268 miles along the Pennine Way in England. In his documentary Na Blues, Eoghan Breathnach traces the highs of the Waterford FC soccer team in Europe to its lowest point at the brink of extinction. After years of heartbreak, the Blues, once the biggest team in Ireland, are trying to gain promotion to Ireland’s top tier again.
In Ní ar a Shíltear a Bhítear, award winning Belfast actor, writer and director Seosamh Mac Seoin takes a humorous and moving look on the desires of a mother reconnecting with her daughter. The short drame explores the connection between “the right thing”and the question: “How far would you go to do impress someone?”
The remaining students cast their eye on different dimensions of the musical and visual arts. In Seinnteoir Sráide, Tramore filmmaker Eoin Ó Daltún creates a personal portrait of a celebrated street musician in Waterford City as he ponders the life he has chosen. This is the touching story of Paul Dillon, a man in his seventies who lives on his own and spends his afternoons as a busker.
In her film Sean Scoil, award-winning film artist Lorraine Hogan from Kinsale celebrates a local community saving an old school from demolition. They transform the 1836 building into a state-of-the-art community and arts centre, helping the cultural life of a rural parish in Minane Bridge, County Cork.
In Teanga na hEalaíne, filmmaker Ruairi Mc Namara takes a poetic look at the creative process of three artists based in Belfast, Glasgow and Bray. It is also a visual portrayal of their connections with the Irish language. And in Anam na Siúire, musician Seán Cunningham celebrates artistic folk of Carrick-on Suir – Caoimhín de Paor, Tom Nealon agus Tony Oakey – and the inspiration they take from the river.
The Postgraduate Course in Television & Media Production commences again in September 2023 and is run by the South East Technological University in association with Nemeton TV, one of Ireland’s leading production companies, and Udarás na Gaeltachta. It is widely regarded as one of the most industry-focused courses in the media sector and has gained a high profile in the industry with its excellent graduate employment record.