Midland Arts and Culture Magazine - Register.ie

Midland Arts and Culture Magazine | WINTER 2010/2011OFFline Film Festivalproves a BLOCKBUSTERPORTARLINGTON, County Offaly,woman Carla Mooney and herteam with their film TheSandeman Man have beenannounced as the winners of theinaugural Offaly Film Festival,OFFline.The first OFFline, which took place fromNovember 18 to 21 in Birr, offered thefilm lover a special and variedexperience in the form of three excitingstrands – Screenings, Workshops anda Filmmaking Competition.The Short Film Making Competition,which is the first of its kind for theMidlands, attracted more than a dozenapplications for the coveted prize of€1,000 and a guaranteed slot at the2011 Galway Film Fleadh.PRESTIGIOUSHONOUR FORPORTARLINGTONPOETPORTARLINGTON poet JeanO’Brien has won of the mostrespected international literaryawards for poetry. Theprestigious Arvon InternationalPoetry Competition in Londonattracted thousands of entriesfrom more than 43 countriesincluding the Philippines, NewZealand, Zimbabwe and theUnited States of America.But, the judging panel chairedFour applications came from Offalybasedteams while other teamstravelled from as far afield as Sligo,Clonmel, Dublin and Galway.Local residents looked on with greatinterest as the various teams madetheir way around the heritage town andsurrounding countryside in search ofthat perfect shot.Some residents – not content withmerely watching from the sidelines –mucked in and filled various cast andcrew roles for some of the visitingteams. Local businesses also ensuredthe festival's success by allowing theirpremises to be used as film sets forsome of the productions.A wide array of International andIrish films was also screened over theweekend. One of the highlights of theweekend was the visit of directorMarian Quinn to the festival. Marian –by Poet Laureate, Carol AnnDuffy, and included leadingpoets Elaine Feinstein andSudeep Sen decided that itwas the Midland’s Jean whoshould scoop the accoladewith her poem Merman.Jean was thrilled with herwin. “I am proud and delightedto be bringing such an awardback to Ireland. It is an honourto have your poem stand outfrom so many thousands ofyour peers and to receive histype of recognition.”Budding writers will bepleased to hear that Jean is totake creative writing classes inPortarlington in January 2011which are being hosted byPortarlington CommunityDevelopment Association -Arts and Heritage Group.ABOUT JEAN O’BRIENJEAN O'Brien is a Dubliner nowliving in Portarlington. Her workis widely published in magazinesand journals. She has publishedthree collections of poetry, TheShadow Keeper (Salmon, 1997)Dangerous Dresses (BradshawBooks, 2005) and Lovely Legs(Salmon, 2009). She read for aM.Phil in Creative Writing fromTrinity College and facilitatesIN FRONT OF THE CAMERA:Carla Mooney (left) and her team,winners of the first Offaly Film Festivalaward for The Sandeman Manwith members of OFFline.whose brother is actor Aidan Quinn -still has relations living in Birr and wasthrilled when asked to attend aQuestion and Answer session followingthe screening of her coming-of-agedrama 32A. The screening was verywell attended by locals and studentsfrom visiting schools alike – thanks tothe presence of the film on this year'sLeaving Certificate English syllabus.Four different workshops were alsoheld during the festival. Industryprofessionals facilitated the sessionswith editing, scriptwriting, directing andDSLR movie making being the subjectsup for discussion.Given the success of this year'sfestival, OFFline is here to stay.For more information visitwww.offlinefilmfestival.com or join thefestival on facebook.com/offlinefilmcreative writing classes forvenues as diverse as the IrishWriters' Centre, Dublin CityCouncil, various County Councilsand in Mountjoy, Limerick andthe Midlands Prisons. She wasWriter-in-Residence for CountyLaois in 2005. She was lastyear's recipient of the FishInternational Poetry Award. Alsoin 2008 she was commissionedto write a poem for the OxfamCalendar. Fiona Sampson writingin the Irish Times described herpoetry as: "…effortless writing,graceful and exact as anypirouette in its insight".BriefsLAOIS HITS THERIGHT NOTEAPPLICATIONS for MusicNetwork/U2/Ireland Funds formusic education are to beinvited at the start of year.In the meantime anyone interestedin applying is free to contact LaoisCounty Council Arts Office to findout more and receive guidance.Led by The Arts Office in LaoisCounty Council, a partnership hasbeen formed with Laois VEC andLaois Partnership Ltd, which will actas a Local Music Education Partner(LMEP) for Laois. The call forapplications for funding will be inJanuary 2011 and there arestringent guidelines in place as tohow an LMEP can access funds.Some rules: Funding will only begranted for long-term sustainablemusic education programmes - oneoffprojects will not be considered.Individuals/ schools/music groupscannot apply independently – allapplications must go through theLMEP. Fifty per cent matching fundingis required – some of which may be‘in kind’. The funding is primarily tobe used for music tuition but capitalspending for instruments will beconsidered. Funding will not begiven for existing provision.If you have any ideas for developinga long-term music programme foryour group/school or have anyqueries please contact Music CoordinatorNuala Kelly, Laois CountyCouncil on 057 867 4345 or emailartsoff@laoiscoco.ieMASTERCLASSMIDLAND Masterclasses, aninitiative run by the Arts Services inLaois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeathis now in its third year. The schemewas developed in response to theprofessional needs of visual artists,musical enthusiasts, dancers,writers and performers right acrossthe Midlands. Running from Augustto October, the programme includesmasterclasses in Sculpture,Portraiture, Dance, Music,Performance, Photography and Webdesign. Contact the Arts Office on057 8674342/44.WESTMEATHPLAN FOR ARTSWESTMEATH County Councillaunched its second artsplan earlier this year – WestmeathArts Plan 2010-2016. The plan setsout Westmeath’s policy forpromoting and developing the artsin the county over the next sixyears. The development processhighlighted the significant processmade to date and provides aframework within which WestmeathCounty Council will continue todevelop an integrated, effective andresponsive arts programme.The local authority recognises thepositive contribution of the arts tothe ongoing economic, social andcultural development of the County.To download a copy of the plan visitwww.westmeathcoco.ie/arts7