Film Studies
There have been many highlights in Film Studies in St. Leo's College as this Department garners much interest from students and goes from strength to strength.
In early 2017 the annual Catherine McCauley Lecture was given by past pupil Eleanor Cunney who currently works in RTE as a film director. It was inspirational to hear her speak about her life and experiences since leaving St. Leo’s College and how she has carved a career within the film/media industry.
Following on previous successes 2017 has been a productive year in terms of films produced by our students. Two films, entered into the Leinster heats of the Fresh Film Festival by our Transition Year students, progressed to the final of the competition. Their films were screened in the Odeon Cinemas in Dublin and Limerick: “Little Things”, a short film made by Alannah Strutt, Ava Thompson, Cara Scully, Eimera Travers and Grace McDermott, and “There is an Art for Us All” by Emily Miller, a film which was also “highly commended” in the Drugs.ie National Youth Media Awards.
Another film that was highly commended in this competition was the film “Why Some Young People Use Drugs” by Transition Year students Roisin Pawley, Saoirse Nolan, Caitlin Watson, Alison Phelan, Aishling O’Leary and Alannagh O’Toole.
Emily Miller also had success with a number of films and was delighted to learn of her achievement in winning the millennium prize in the EU Digital Tomorrow file competition. Entries from all over Europe had been invited to submit a short film detailing what impact technology would have on our world in 2040. Emily's submission entitled "Technology will set us free", a narrative series of illustrations with background music that she composed and performed herself. Watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIfZVdUyi_o
Another milestone in Film Studies was achieved this year when a film made by students of St. Leo’s College was screened at the Dublin International Film Festival. 5th Year students Lauren Farrell, Lauren Hannon, Julia Gregoruk, Brona Walsh, Ciara Hennessy and Chloe Murphy were invited to see their film screened in Dublin as part of the “Young Film-Makers” exhibition of films at the festival. Well done to you all girls.
Transition year students also made a music video for Stephanie Rainey-100 like me. The video was shared over 200,000 times on Facebook and is now being used by charities such as Taxi-Watch, Pieta house, SOS, Bernardo's and the international society for suicide prevention. This is a fantastic achievement and they should be proud of their work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2pHqKrlXxo