Midland Arts and Culture Magazine - Register.ie

Moviefilmedin Offalymakeshistory inCannesA sleepwalker. A body.A family. A smallcommunity. Arlene islike a ghost in her life.She lives in a small town in themidlands – surrounded by field afterfield, woodlands and lane ways todisappear down and never come back…One morning Arlene wakes in the woodsbeside the body of a young woman.Someone watches from the trees. Thebody is soon discovered and suspicionspreads through the community.Increasingly drawn to the girl’s family –her grieving sister and accusedboyfriend, Arlene barricades herself inat night, afraid to sleep. Haunted bygrief, Arlene’s sleeping and wakingrealities soon blur. And all this timesomeone is watching her...The Other Side of Sleep, which wasfilmed over four weeks in Offaly in AprilMullingART bringssplash of colour totown for third yearNow in its third year, The MullingART Project will again be subtlyadorning the shop windows of Mullingar Town bringing a welcomesplash of colour for a few weeks over the summer.“The real joy of MullingART for me,” said Project Co-ordinator, DonMortell “is that it isn’t in your face. It’s a gentle celebration of theincredible wealth of talent in Mullingar that largely goes unrecognised.”He explained: “The principle of the project is a simple but incrediblysuccessful one. We ask local creative talents to provide a piece or twoof their work from whichever discipline they choose. Photography, oils,watercolour, sculpture, the only limit is that of the artists imagination.“The pieces, once assembled together, are then distributed tobusiness premises throughout the town to be displayed in shopwindows, pub and business walls, anywhere that the public, be theylocals or visitors to our town can see and enjoy them for the duration ofthe project. Ultimately it is, in effect a 24/7 people’s art gallery.“To my knowledge, our project is unique in Ireland and by definition,‘uniquely Mullingar’.”At the end of the project the submitted pieces are collected togetherand displayed in one static exhibition. Last year the gallery wassituated in Danny Byrnes’ old nightclub space.“It was through the generosity of Mark and the staff of Danny Byrnespub that we acquired this perfect space for our gallery last year. Otherthan a generous grant from Westmeath County Council ArtsDepartment, our greatest asset, as a project, is goodwill.“MullingART exists only because of the belief placed in us by CatherineKelly (Arts Officer of Westmeath County Council) and the kindness andpositive of the town’s artists and business owners and operators.Without any of these vital components, Mullingart would not be thesuccess it is becoming and indeed, may not exist at all.”Don went on to say: “MullingART is not about generating money. Its2010 and included many local cast andcrew in the making of the film and withthe help and support of FilmOffaly, hasreceived some rave reviews.The Other Side of Sleep has gone on tobe lauded as the acclaimed debutfeature by Irish filmmaker Rebecca Dalythat features a powerful and compellingperformance from Antonia Campbell-Hughes, one of this year’s BerlinInternational Film Festival’s ShootingStars award recipients.This hotly-anticipated suspense dramamade history at its World Premiere atthe Cannes Film Festival in 2011 as itwas the first film directed by an Irishwoman to be selected for inclusion inthe Festival.The film, produced by Fastnet Films,also screened in competition at theToronto International Film Festival andwas nominated for Best Director andBest Actress at the Irish Film andTelevision Awards.The film took only six weeks to shoot,(in Geashill, Clara, Tullamore andPortarlington) but results in anexceptionally still and haunting film,choosing locations that offer Offaly in anew light and, in particular, the tunnellikedriveway of trees in Geashill.Leading a fantastic ensemble cast inThe Other Side of Sleep, as well asbeing named one of Berlin InternationalFilm Festival’s Shooting Stars, AntoniaCampbell-Hughes’ career is at a highpoint. Other key cast members includetwo veteran Irish actresses of stage andscreen, Olwen Fouere and Cathy Beltonas well as hot newcomer and Tullamorenative Sam Keeley who has gone on tostar in RAW and What Richard Did.sole purpose is to bring a touch of pleasure and enjoyment to the townand its visitors while promoting the incredible amount of talent thatexists in Mullingar which perhaps otherwise would never get theexposure, recognition or adulation it so richly deserves.“With each year that passes, I am consistently impressed at the qualityand variety of pieces submitted. The pleasure for me is that while anumber of MullingART artists are professionally trained and are sellingtheir work outside of the project, the vast majority of contributors areenthusiastic hobby artists and nothing gives me greater pleasure thanhearing that one of our artists is surprised and delighted at selling apiece or pieces as a result of the project.“All pieces are displayed with an individual “exhibit card” which carriesthe artists contact details. Any potential sales negotiations orcommissions are discussed directly with the artist. MullingART merelyacts as a conduit to make this possible”.Last year’s MullingART saw nearly 150 pieces submitted and wants tosee more in 2012, not only from Irish artists but from othercommunities who live in Mullingar.“I would love to see more submissions from other Mullingarcommunities and groups. This project is totally inclusive. I want to hearfrom the African, Eastern European, Traveller, Asian and Britishcommunities or any other groups who would like to display their work.The project is not about work being judged. It is about makingsomething special happen as a town. I would love to see the differentstyles and perceptions of art that these groups can bring to ourproject,” added Don.MullingART 2012 will take place over July and August. It will besupported by an extensive local media campaign, a website andFacebook page.For more information, please contact Don on 087 611 6883 or emaildonmortell@gmail.com MBriefsMAY/JUNE LINE-UPAT THE DUNAMAISEARTS CENTREAs ever, there is a very eclectic mix ofperformances at the Dunamaise ArtsCentre throughout May and June withtheatre and music to the fore.Two very well known faces lead thecharge: Gay Byrne comes to thetheatre on Thursday, May 17 for whatis certain to be a unique event andDes Keogh returns with the hilariousshow based on JB Keane stories TheLove Hungry Farmer.In June, there is a new theatre showentitled Love All, which tells theamazing true story of the only Irishperson to feature in the Wimbledontennis final.Other performances include aRiverdance style musical/danceextravaganza Celtic Dream on May31 and a much-anticipatedperformance by local tenor AmbroseDunne on June 23.The Dunamaise film programme isalways worth a look and this seasonis no exception.Films lined up for screening includethe big Oscar winner The Artist; theacclaimed My Week with Marilyn,featuring an Oscar nominatedperformance by Michelle Williams;the much anticipated Irish mademovie featuring Martin Sheen, StellaDays and This Must Be the Place, afilm partly filmed in Dublin featuringSean Penn, Frances McDormand andEve Hewson.Also one to look forward to is anadaption of the great Yasmina Rezaplay God of Carnage featuring an allstarcast of Jodie Foster, KateWinslet, Christoph Waltz and John CReilly and directed by RomanPolanski. God of Carnage is set in aNew York apartment and observesthe increasingly childish and chaoticbehaviour of two couples that meet tosort out a playground row betweentheir sons. Also not to be missed isMadonna’s debut as a film directorwith the story of Wallis Simpson andEdward VIII in W/E.Full details on all the performancesand screenings are available onwww.dunamaise.ie MDirector of Dunamise ArtsCentre praised for contributionSEE PAGE 2911