FFF is a short film festival without a cinema providing those who attend with many alternatives, from screenings on Cape Clear, the village hall, local hotel, to café viewing in numerous local pubs and restaurants in town. Over 500 short films from over 40 countries are entered into competition each year for a share in the cash prize fund of €45,000. The Festival focuses on the craft of filmmaking hosting seminars, workshops and masterclasses with industry experts on all aspects of the film industry. Fringe events include film quiz, live music, family entertainment and much more. We are an independent festival dedicated to bringing together established and first-time filmmakers in a forum that celebrates short film. The element of competition is not paramount and while the prizes are significant, it’s the taking part and screening of entrants’ films in a public arena that counts. Short filmmakers work is rarely shown in the cinema. We endeavour, therefore, to screen as many of the short films entered into our competitions as possible throughout the village of Schull.
Because we seek to encourage young filmmakers to pick up their cameras for the first time, what we look for is imaginative solutions to inevitable production budget limitations. In other words, if you don’t have enough money to hire the latest camera, lighting and sound recording equipment, let alone the best actors in the country, then don’t write a script that depends on these factors. As simple as it may sound, a good film always starts with a good script. A good script is one that both takes account of the limitations of the budget and seeks to rise above these limitations imaginatively. We would like to encourage film lovers to attend our festival and take part in each year’s extraordinary workshops and audiences with our guest film experts. Over the past few years we have had contributions from Jim Sheridan, Gerard Stembridge, Jack Gold, Kirsten Sheridan, Steve Coogan, Greg Dyke, Tony Barry, Lenny Abrahamson, Carmel Winters, Ken Wardrop, Andrew Freedman, Ian Power, David Puttnam, Sandy Lieberson, Mike Leigh, Maureen Hughes, Ros Hubbard, Stephen Frears, Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, James Nesbitt, Alison Oliver, Èanna Hardwicke, Moe Dunford and many others. Please check previous year’s programmes, available as downloadable PDFs elsewhere on this website. Annually over the last weekend in May, in up to 15 different venues around the village of Schull, we run Q&As, world class workshops, screen international short film programmes, alongside the screening of our competition entries. You will also find free family entertainment to make sure all ages are well taken care of.
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