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Cinemagic Dublin
Established in 1989, Cinemagic is an award-winning children’s film festival. Originally Belfast-based, this year Cinemagic is coming to Dublin from 23rd April 23rd–1st May. Tim Hanan caught up Cinemagic CEO Joan Burney-Keatings for a short interview about the festival.
Tim Hanan: All the information about the festival can be found on the website here, but is there anything in particular you'd like to highlight?
Joan Burney-Keatings: Well, basically Cinemagic's been going for eighteen years, it's a registered children's charity, and this will be our first year in Dublin. When we first started to talk about the Dublin festival, it was going to be a small, three-day event, and it's now grown into a nine-day festival, which will be taking place both in Dundrum and in a number of city centre venues, such as Spencer Dock and Cineworld Complex. We will have lots of screenings, lots of masterclasses and workshops, everything is arranged... We’ve masterclasses with some of the actors from Harry Potter and a TV presenting class with Dermot O'Leary. And then, a little bit younger, we have animation with Cartoon Saloon and storytelling workshops with Hugglewugs. So there's everything in there, some screenings, some practicals with class age ranging from 4–25 years of age.
Is this something you've been planning for a while?
Well, it actually really happened – Coca-Cola is our titled sponsor in the north, and they approached us in July to see if we could do something in Dublin. It seemed like it was going to be very small, and it was certainly something I'd been thinking about for a while. But it really has taken off, and we've been very grateful to the number of sponsors and funders who've put their trust in us, and also the Department of Education, and the Department of Culture and Arts and Tourism, who came on board and really wanted to try and make it a success. And because we're involving so many marginalised young people who've possibly never really engaged in the arts before, I think that's what kept all the momentum going and kept people seeing the value of it.
Have the audiences been predominantly young people, or has there been a wider range?
There’s a very wide range of people, some of the audience can be school groups, where teachers, you know, really want the children to see foreign-language screenings, and have discussions afterwards. Others can be young kids that have never done any acting before – they're keen just to find out about acting. And then you've got some young kids – especially our international jury, which is a cross-border jury, kids from the north and the south coming together to watch a number of films. And all those kids have applied by themselves, and they're really keen, they're all big film buffs, which is great.
The launch was very successful, we launched on the 28th of February. We actually had two premieres, and we have a big premiere on our opening night with the whole cast coming to attend the premiere, and we are closing with the premiere of Iron Man. So there's a mixture of those who want to go to the cinema to watch screenings, those young people who want to take part in acting and directing, and those who want to come along just to find out more about the industry and to find out about the whole magic of film itself.
Did you have to make any changes to the festival for the move to Dublin? Have you found it very different in Dublin?
No, it's just been great – there's been a great response, you know, in Dublin, and a real willingness, and everyone has been really enthusiastic, and I think that's really carried us, and gave us the confidence to expand it. Certainly in the first year, we'd never have thought we'd be delivering a festival over nine days, so I think, you know, with the vast interest, it's been great.
Are you bringing the Outreach and Education Departments south as well?
Yes, absolutely. We're going to be doing a cross-border film camp, so we're looking for young people who've never really been involved in the process before and are interested in making a short film, to come along and attend the film camp. And we're very keen to deliver outreach screenings and ach projects, outside of Dublin as well. And that's something that I'm very much thinking about for, you know, a year, two years, three years from now. While it's Dundrum and the city centre this year, in the next couple of years it'll certainly expand more to the North, and the North of Dublin, and different areas outside Dublin as well.
So do you see yourselves doing other festivals further afield?
Oh, yes. We're also in the process of planning Cinemagic France, which will be taking place hopefully in March '09. So, again, it's to try and make everything a lot more accessible to young people and to also have international juries, from Dublin and Belfast and France, all coming together under the auspices of Cinemagic.
Has the expansion affected the original Cinemagic events?
It has, yes. When Cinemagic actually started up, it was much, much smaller. Each year it just kept continuing to grow and to grow, and each year we'd get so many international names, like five years ago, the Hensons with seventeen of the Muppets. Which was incredible, it was the first time the Muppets had ever been to Ireland! So, as a result of that they decided to become a patron of the charity. Dermot O'Leary decided to become a patron for eight years, and he's coming back twice a year. Suranne Jones, the same and other patrons such as Brian Cox and Julian Fellowes. But we're not complacent with that either, that's why we're keen to develop Dublin further, and you know, look at France, develop France, and after that, you know, look further afield, and really, the sky is the limit.
Is there anything about this festival that you're especially happy about or looking forward to?
Well, there are a number of things. First of all, we're just delighted that we were able to pull it together so quickly. It’s been put together, programmed in less than five months, which for us is a big achievement, especially because none of us are based in Dublin and none of us have worked in Dublin before, so I think that's our first big achievement. And secondly, the fact that we were able to secure so many films, particularly premieres. That, as well as the fact that we've got the likes of the Hubbard and Dermot and so many other people coming over to very kindly take masterclasses.
The fun-filled programme promises an eclectic range of films, masterclasses with film and television industry guests, workshops for schools sponsored by AIB Group, a cross border jury panel and Q&A’s all of which aim to entertain, motivate and create opportunities for young people aged from 4 to 25 .
Special Previews
Special preview screenings during the nine day festival include the Opening Night film Summer of the Flying Saucer (23rd April) directed by Irish filmmaker Martin Duffy, the Japanese CGI anime film Vexille (28th April) and the much anticipated action film Iron Man from Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment will close the festival in Cineworld on 1st May.
Festival Films
Fun for all the family is guaranteed with screenings of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (26th April), The Wizard of Oz (26th April) and Toy Story (30th April); and classics such as Stand by Me (24th April) and Jaws (30th April) are not to be missed!
Documentary fans can enjoy a series of skilfully made films including a breathtaking story of nature in the film Earth (25th April), the thought provoking issues in An Inconvenient Truth (28 April) and the powerful, poignant stories in Iraq in Fragments (25th April).
Award-winning films such as Pan’s Labyrinth (25th April), Amelie (27th April), Donnie Darko (29th April), The Kite Runner (1st May) and The Last King of Scotland (30 April) will be back on the silver screen, as well as special screenings accompanied with guest speaker discussions. For further information visit www.cinemagic.ie
To view the festival programme online visit www.cinemagic.ie. For further information telephone Cinemagic on +44 28 90 311 900.
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