Note for Diary and Picture Editors for event taking place on Thursday 28 June in Dublin’s Light House Cinema
Beach photocall shots of Victoria Smurfit taken this week in Los Angeles are linked HERE and below and available to carry in press.
LA-based Irish actress Victoria Smurfit took time out of her busy Hollywood schedule this week to take part in Jury Duty for the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) Annual Human Rights Film Awards, Ireland’s only short film competition on human rights.
Taking part in the Awards Jury deliberations for the third year running from her base in Los Angeles, the About a Boy star joined fellow Dublin-based Jury members Brenda Fricker, Kirsten Sheridan, Senator David Norris and others in viewing the shortlist of five outstanding short films in the 4th annual Irish Council for Civil Liberties Human Rights Film Awards, which will be the subject of an exclusive Gala Awards screening at the Light House Cinema on the evening of 28 June 2012.
Unable to attend, due to her Hollywood commitments, Victoria took time out from her busy schedule to show her support for the Awards and for human rights filmmaking in a beachside photo shoot on the LA strip. Photo editors can pick up a selection of shots on the ICCL’s Flickr site here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63083264@N05/sets/72157630294826038/
28 June 2012 Gala Screening Diary Details for Photo Desks and Editors
What : An exclusive and star-studded screening of the 4th Annual ICCL Human Rights Film Awards’ five outstanding shortlisted human rights films, and the award of the Grand Prize.
When: 7pm, 28 June 2012. Red carpet photocall of arrivals in Light House Cinema plaza and lobby to take place from 7pm. Celebrity Jury, Guests and shortlisted filmmakers (details below) arriving for photocall at 7:15pm.
Where: The Light House Cinema, Smithfield, Dublin 7.
Who: Awards Jury members attending include:
Kirsten Sheridan, (Director of August Rush, Disco Pigs and Oscar-nominated co-writer of In America)
Tomm Moore, (Oscar-nominated director of The Secret of Kells)
Sinead Kennedy, (Human Rights in Under a Minute Challenge Jury Member and RTE Presenter)
Senator David Norris
Ken Wardrop (Acclaimed director of film His and Hers)
James Morris (chair of the Irish Film Board)
To arrange print and broadcast interviews with the Jury and filmmakers and for further information on the awards screening in the Light House Cinema on 28 June 2012, please contact:
Walter Jayawardene
Communications Manager
Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL)
9-13 Blackhall Place
Dublin 7
Ireland
Tel. + 353 1 799 4503
Mob: +353 87 9981574
Fax. + 353 1 799 4512
E-mail walter.jayawardene@iccl.ie
Web www.iccl.ie
Notes to the editor:
- A photocall to promote the ICCL Human Rights Film Awards with Victoria Smurfit took place this week in LA. A selection of photos is available to Picture Desks at the following Flickr link. Please credit photos to A. Rentmeester. http://www.flickr.com/photos/63083264@N05/sets/72157630294826038/
- The ICCL Human Rights Film Awards is Ireland’s first and only short film awards dedicated to human rights.The shortlist of six short films was announced on 30 May 2012. It is available to view online at http://www.humanrightsfilmawards.org/page.php?intPageID=27
- The shortlist will be the subject of an exclusive Gala Awards screening at the Light House Cinema on the evening of 28 June 2012, where the Jury will announce the winning film.
- The Jury comprises acclaimed filmmakers Kirsten Sheridan, Rebecca Miller, Tomm Moore and Ken Wardrop; actors Brenda Fricker, Stephen Rea and Victoria Smurfit; Senator David Norris; Grainne Humphreys, director of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival; Rod Stoneman of the Huston School of Film, Galway; James Morris, Chair of the Irish Film Board and John Kelleher, former Director of IFCO.
- The shortlist was chosen by a panel of experts in human rights and the Arts, including Alan Fitzpatrick, Managing Director of Filmbase; John Maguire, Film Critic with the Sunday Business Post; Alicia McGivern, Head of Education at the IFI; Conor Power, Barrister and former ICCL Board member; Marc O’Sullivan, Arts Editor of the Irish Examiner; Suzanne Egan of the UCD School of Law; and Michael Finucane, Solicitor and former ICCL Board member.
- The Awards also has a young persons’ strand, the ‘Human Rights in Under a Minute Challenge’, the jury for which includes actors Robert Sheehan, Sarah Bolger and TV presenter Sinead Kennedy
The 2012 ICCL Human Rights Film Awards Shortlist – Details:
View at: http://www.humanrightsfilmawards.org/page.php?intPageID=27
Machine Man – Director Roser Corella
This documentary by Roser Corella is an elegant exploration of the role of manual human labour in a globalised 21st century world. The film follows the lives of various workers in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, where millions of men and women carry out all manner of labour in the streets, factories, building sites and on the sea shore. These “machine men” are the engine that keeps this bustling metropolis running, and this film is a glimpse at the lives they lead.
Hold on Tight – Producer Zlata Filipovic, Director Anna Rodgers
Holding hands and kissing in public isn’t for everyone. When it comes to same-sex relationships, showing your love outside of the home is sometimes a complicated personal choice. This short documentary moves between the public and the private spaces in which lesbian and gay couples live, and explores small gestures of human connectedness. These gentle interactions not only carry a huge personal significance, but also the potent power to create social change. Yet for most people, being affectionate beyond the hall door isn’t intended as a political statement – it’s an expression of love.
Chen Guangcheng: Caged Bird – Producer Adam Shapiro, Animator Trish McAdam
Chen Guangcheng, a blind, self-taught lawyer, began his human rights work in China by defending the economic rights of farmers and arguing for the right of the disabled. He was also active in exposing the practice of forced abortions and sterilizations in China’s Shangdong Province. Since 2005, Chen and his family have been subject to frequent prosecutions and periods of imprisonment and house arrest. This film, inspired by the poetry of Maya Angelou, and built around the animation of Trish McAdam, was made as part of a campaign by Front Line Defenders calling for an end to Chen Guancheng’s captivity. In May 2012, Chen and his family fled to the United States; however extended family members face continued harassment and pressure from the authorities.
Leave to remain – Director Anna Byrne
Since the late nineties, hundreds of unaccompanied minors have arrived in Ireland seeking refuge. These children are termed Separated Immigrant Children. Up until December 2010, these children were housed in residential hostels in the greater Dublin area. This is one man’s account of his experience in Ireland as a separated immigrant child.
Padres – Director Liz Lobato
In this charming short film by Spanish director Liz Lobato, we see the emotional struggle of a couple as they attempt to navigate Spain’s bureaucratic adoption process. Still wracked with doubt as to whether or not they are making the right choice, the adoption agency reveals at the last minute that their prospective adoptee is not alone, leaving the couple with an important choice to make.