300 short films at schull festival

‘Frank’, the Irish comedy-drama directed by Lenny Abrahamson, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. A surreal comedy inspired by the cult musician Frank Sidebottom, played by Michael Fassbender and co-starring Domhnall Gleeson and Maggie Gyllenhaal, ‘Frank’ will be screened at this year's festival that will run from 20th to 24th May in the seaside town of Schull.

Lenny has just returned from the US having finished shooting his “most challenging film to date” – the screen adaptation of Emma Donoghue's 2010 novel ‘Room’. Lenny will be in attendance to take part in a post-screening Q&A.

Each year, over the last weekend in May, the now five-day festival plays host to in excess of 300 short films. The commitment in Schull is to screen all of the short films entered into competition during the festival in as many different venues throughout the village as possible and to have them available on archive for Wi-Fi viewing on smart devices within the network of Schull. The Fringe will have amazing fun for children of all ages.

Filmmakers, directors, producers and invited industry experts all share their experiences, giving shape and direction to each year’s challenging programme. This Short Film Festival without a Cinema invites you to explore alternatives throughout the village of Schull, providing those who attend with a totally new cinematic experience.

Distributed Cinema is Schull’s very own intranet network dedicated to short film. Films are screened in over 15 venues, from a bookshop to an art gallery, a craft shop to the village hall, numerous local pubs and restaurants. Schull’s network connects, through Ethernet cable and wireless, to its own short film archive on a dedicated server. Anyone with a smartphone, laptop or iPad can also access the server through Wi-Fi anywhere on the main street and watch any of the seven years of submission films any time of the day or night. Visitors can also take a short ferry ride to the Long Island cinema to watch submission shorts and enjoy a corona.

Many more exciting contributors to the festival are yet to be announced.