That’s a wrap on the 13th OFFline Film Festival

FOR the past three years, OFFline Film Festival in Birr had made plans for a festival that couldn’t be fully realised but it finally returned to full capacity and a full programme of events for the first time since 2019 for five days last week.

For those five days, Birr was treated to a variety of visual storytelling from the Irish language Tarrac by Offaly’s Eugene O’Brien and Declan Recks, to the critical darling An Cailín Ciúin to international documentaries The Hermit of Treig (screened in Ireland for the very first time) and The Territory.

Its Shorts Programme continued to go from strength to strength; 2022 saw the largest number of short films ever (over 400) submitted for consideration. Over 60 Irish and international shorts were screened over the weekend and filmmakers from Argentina, Bulgaria, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom and all over Ireland were in the town for the festival.

Special events this year saw the return of the much-loved Fright Night with a trip to Kinnitty Castle and the Food & Film event which featured one of most-talked about films of the year Blackbird from Michael Flatley in The Chestnut Garden.

The ‘Made In Midlands’ showcase also drew a great crowd last Thursday night with films shot in Offaly, made by Offaly filmmakers and made by those with an Offaly connection screening at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre. It also included the world premiere of WHALE filmed in Birr in 2021 and funded by FilmOffaly. Films by Birr residents Jackie Lynch, Rowena Keaveny and Fiona Breen were also on the bill.

The OFFline Educational Screenings in partnership with Irish Film Institute Schools were a huge hit this year. Over 450 students from all over the Midlands enjoyed King (French) and The Path (German) at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre and the festival also hosted an additional screening of opening night film, Tarrac, due to demand.

Offaly County Council Arts Council also presented Mini Movies again this year. The screening featured a series of short stop-motion animations by students of Banagher College, St Rynagh's National School and St Mary’s National School in Cloghan created with the help of facilitator Julie Forrester.

The Festival was rounded out with a brilliant Animation Residency Show & Tell by the 2022 Residents. It gave animations Joe Loftus and Eoin O’Kane a chance to share all they’d been up to during their six-month residency in Birr.

At the Awards Ceremony on Sunday, the winners of Best Irish Short, Best International Short, Best Animation and the Audience Award were also announced.

They were:

Best Irish Short - Snooze | Adam Collins

Best International Short - Fat Kathy | Julia Pelka | Poland

Best Animation - Cost of Curiosity | Ireland | Rachel Fitzgerald

Audience Award - Candle Cops | UK | Tony Collingwood

A special thank you to all those who made OFFline 2022 possible; patrons, advertisers and sponsors, friends, funders, philanthropists and filmmakers.

OFFline Film Festival 2023 is set for October 11th-15th, 2023 www.offlinefilmfestival.com .