The Clones Film Festival is a film festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

 in Clones

Clones

Clones is a small town in western County Monaghan, in the 'border area' of the Republic of Ireland. The area is part of the Border Region, earmarked for economic development by the Irish Government due to its currently below-average economic situation...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. It was launched in 2001 and is steadily growing to be the biggest event of its type in the area. Organised by Lmb Entertainments, the festival was artistically directed by Larry and Gilly Fogg in 2001. Since then, the festival has been artistically directed by Thomas Zechner and Harry Cleary.

2008's festival will be artistically directed by James Sheerin, Stephen Mc Kenna and Thomas Zechner.

One of the features of the Clones Film Festival is the Scanbitz Short Film Challenge. Filmmakers get the chance to script, prep, scout locations, cast, rehearse, film, edit and present a finished short film in just three days. The winning entry receives a coveted Francie Award.

The Francies 2007

The Francie Awards were first presented in 2007, when 5 films were screened to an audience of over 200 people. The Gulpins film crew walked away with the Audience Award for their film Moonman (a space romp). The jury of Kevin Allen, Colin McKeown, Vinny Cunningham (a late replacement for Alan Moloney, who had to return to base due to a family illness), Fergal McGrath, Thomas Zechner and Harry Cleary had earlier had the task of picking the first ever Francie winners. They also went with the audience and bestowed the crystal on The Gulpins, headed up by Orla Cullinane, Grainne Cullinane and James McKee.

Little Warrior Films, led by Martin Maguire and Thomas Seoige, were a close second with Senex, a 90 second treatment of the poem by John Betjeman

John Betjeman

Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...

.

Jackie Jarvis submitted a poignant tribute to her grandmother and grandfather called Pat McCaul which resonated all evening thoroughout the hall packed full with press, filmmakers and film buffs and interested locals.

Mary Keane's dance piece About Us Lies Heaven based on Eugene McCabe

Eugene McCabe

Eugene McCabe is an Irish novelist, short story writer, playwright and television screenwriter. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to Irish emigrants, but moved with his family to Ireland in the early 1940s. He lives on a farm near Clones in County Monaghan near the border between the Republic of...

's writings.

Ciaran Deeney's June, a powerful and haunting Dogme

Dogme 95

Dogme 95 was an avant-garde filmmaking movement started in 1995 by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vow of Chastity". These were rules to create filmmaking based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and...

style production, completed the evening's viewing.

External links

• Clones Film Festival

County Monaghan°N date=December 2010°W