Fresh Film will present the award for “Ireland’s young filmmaker of the year” during the festival.
The organisation will select winners from thousands of young applicants in each of the 3 categories – Junior, aged 7 to 12 years old; Seniors, aged 12 to 18 years old; and the International category, with applicants aged 7 to 19 years.
The festival will kick off with a showing of the 2024 French drama-comedy “Marching Band” directed by Emmanual Courcol in the Omniplex cinema in Limerick’s Crescent shopping centre.
The film will also open with an animation workshop in St. Mary’s National School hosted by visual artist, illustrator and animator Freya Porritt Wessman, who is based in Ballina, Co. Mayo, and Killaloe, Co. Clare.
Minister for Arts, Culture, Communications, Media and Sport Patrick O’Donovan shared that he has no doubt “stars of the future will be in Limerick over the coming days to attend [the festival].
“Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, and the Arts Council have been supportive of the creative young independent filmmakers with funding for Fresh Film over the past number of years.
“The success of the Irish film industry at awards ceremonies in recent years is testament to the talent that exists in the Irish film industry.”
The schedule for remaining events happening during the 6-day festival, which ends on March 26th, is as follows:
The festival, which has been run annually since March 1996, has become a staple in the Limerick film scene and gives a platform to thousands of young filmmakers.
The festival has seen over 15,000 applicants across 150 countries since its inception 30 years ago.