A GROUP of seven young people from Limerick northside have surpassed their wildest dreams by scooping the Audience Choice Award for their debut film, Woodcross,
“It’s a very good feeling to be recognised by our peers,” says a delighted Aisling O’Brien, a youth worker at the Northside Youth Cafe, located at Watch House Cross, Moyross,
who said the idea to produce their own film came from the young people who frequent the cafe, which is funded by Pobal and run by Limerick Youth Service.
“It all came from their interest in Moyross and from taking part in the cafe’s Arts Initiative – they decided they wanted to make a film and this is how Woodcross came to the screen,” says Aisling.
With the help and support of John Haugh, who has a Masters in film making, and Aisling. who has a Theatre Studies Degree, the seven young people got down to producing ideas for the film script and storyline, acting, casting, story-boarding and the camera work, as well as casting the roles, directing and controlling the entire process from start to finish.
The cafe’s arts initiative has a particular emphasis on social development through the exploration of various media, including art, film, drama and dance, all run with a view to producing works with a high artistic merit.
Opened one year ago, the Northside Youth Cafe offers a relaxed, drug and alcohol-free space for young people and engages with between 30 and 40 teenagers each week.
Delighted with the positive progress achieved, the cafe co-ordinator, Stacey Quarmby, says: “the young people really enjoy coming here – they can have a bite to eat, play a game of pool and take part in a number of enjoyable, educational and developmental programmes.
“When completed, the film was entered into the Fresh Film Festival, an international youth film festival that has been run by the Belltable Arts Centre for the past 12 years, and on March 10, Woodcross was shown in the heats in the Daghda Dance Company’s Hall in John’s Square and won the Audience Choice Awards. – we are just thrilled – it’s a good feeling to be recognised by our peers”.
The finals of Fresh Film Festival were recently screened at Storm Cinema in Castletroy, followed by the young film makers, their families and friends attending a special red carpet Oscar-themed screening.
Already planning another project, which they plan to take to the Cork Film Festival, the young film makers are not shy of admitting their ambition to aim for future Oscar, Golden Globe and Tony Awards.
