With its eclectic mix of short film, music and entertainment, Future Shorts provides a unique platform for a frequently relegated film form. Niall Kitson talks to the organizers of the Irish branch – Future Short Ireland.

Already a fixture in fourteen cities across Europe, from London to Berlin, Future Shorts got its Dublin launch last September with a diner-themed night of short films, electronica, and girls in short skirts. Seeking to provide an open and democratic space for the appreciation of short film, ranging from commercials to tone poems, Future Shorts has gained its international momentum as a ‘ground up’ movement more akin to an independent music label than a film festival. Armed with their own brand of ruthless optimism, the curators of the Irish branch – Jennie McGinn, Aoife Maguire and Sarah Brennan – are determined to promote short film both international and homegrown to the masses. The fact that they give out free sweets helps as well.

Established in London five years ago, the idea of an informal environment for the appreciation of short film struck a chord with an audience looking at shorts not as a prologue to a feature or as part of someone’s showreel, but as noteworthy pieces of art in themselves. Mixing material from names like Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham with local productions and live music, the Future Shorts model of ‘movie gigs’ caught the attention of communications graduate Jennie McGinn, who quickly set about establishing a Dublin branch with former classmates Aoife Maguire and Sarah Brennan.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 108.