The inaugural Cinemagic Spirit Awards Showcase took place recently (2 Nov 17) at Odyssey Cinemas Belfast. It celebrated the work that has taken place through a series of trainee programmes that Cinemagic, a film festival for young people, has delivered in Northern Ireland throughout 2016 and 2017.
Speaking at the showcase event Joan Burney-Keatings, Chief Executive, Cinemagic said:
“There is such a wealth of talent and innovation in our young people and it’s important that we take time out to reflect on and acknowledge their achievements. Positive encouragement is critical in any career path and knowing that people believe in you and that they want you to be the best that you can be, helps break through barriers. The Cinemagic Spirit Awards Showcase event is all about the young people and their talent. I feel so very honoured and proud when I see what they have achieved.”
Mrs Burney-Keatings adds: “This year Cinemagic celebrated its 28th Festival, hosting workshops, film screenings from around the world and industry talent labs with BAFTA and Oscar-winning hosts. It’s been a really busy six weeks of fantastic activity.
“Cinemagic is grateful for the support of their funders and sponsors but also the young people who come through their doors. Forever inspired by their enthusiasm, commitment, spirit and overall ‘can do’ attitude we wanted to recognise this with the Cinemagic Spirit Awards “
The Cinemagic Spirit Award winners are:
· Lauren Dallas (20) from east Belfast and attends Falmouth University in England.
· Krizzah Policarpio (18) from east Belfast and a student at Ashfield Girls’ High School, Belfast.
· Lia Campbell (19) from Newtownards, and attends IADT in Dun Laoighaire, Dublin.
· Jacob Ashby-Glynne from Bangor (19) and attends SERC (South Eastern Regional College)
· And volunteer Marlene Crockett from Finaghy, South Belfast.
The Cinemagic event also highlighted the fact Cinemagic produces some fantastic short and feature films. This year, in partnership with the Irish Football Association, Cinemagic added another string to their bow and produced a music video for the women’s UEFA Under19s tournament, which was hosted in Northern Ireland. The song and video was written by a young songwriter from Lurgan, Danielle Carson (25), and the music video was produced by a crew of local young people. The video has had over quarter of a million online hits.
In the short film section, a very emotive project, JORDAN’S GIFT, grabbed audiences’ attention. It came about when Colin Kennedy asked Cinemagic to produce a short film about his son, Jordan, who sadly passed away following a severe epileptic fit.
Another short film called CHANCER, funded by Creative Skillet, was also a crowd wower. Throughout the project aspiring filmmakers were given masterclasses, pre-production training and on set training with industry professionals. The film premiered in Los Angles in February this year and was recently screened at the Richard Harris International Film Festival in Limerick. Diarmuid Noyes was nominated for Best Actor in a Male Role and won the Judges Special Mention.
Last, but by no means least, is Cinemagic’s GRACE AND GOLIATH. This feature film-training programme offered 48 young people from Northern Ireland and Los Angeles the opportunity to partake in a six-week training programme. The young people took part in masterclasses, pre production training and took on a role within each of the departments. For many this will be their first credit on a feature film. The Cinemagic Showcase event showed an exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ documentary. The feature film is due out in March 2018.
