CATALYST INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL focuses exclusively on films that address under-representation on screen and behind the camera; gender equality, diversity and inclusion are core to our programming.
The Festival Ambassador is Ruth Negga who noted in her opening address in 2021:
“I feel that the Catalyst International Film Festival can and will act as a compass, a beacon, a buoyant celebration of the multitude of exciting stories that are brimming in modern Ireland.”
We prioritise stories and storytellers who may struggle for visibility in the film industry and in mainstream film festivals. We believe that talent is plentiful but opportunities can be limited. Catalyst films will entertain and engage audiences - but they will also challenge and inspire.
Panel discussions, workshops, interviews, Q&A and special events will be an integral part of Catalyst International Film Festival. This is a place where diverse filmmakers, emerging and more established, can connect and maybe even collaborate. It is also the place where diversity is welcomed, not merely accommodated.
Key issues of the day will be enthusiastically debated with filmmakers, guest speakers, industry personnel and audience members. We anticipate not only a festival of films but also of ideas and opinions. We believe that there are clear cultural benefits created by engaging with diverse films and filmmakers.
Mindful of the power of film to engage and challenge, Catalyst International Film Festival will provide thought provoking cinema and proactive debate. We seek to generate new audiences and discussion around gender equality, diversity and inclusion and the practice of that by individual filmmakers. Our targeted festival guests will themselves speak to diversity whether in the vision, themes and characters explored in their films (content) and/or in the diversity of their personnel and crew (behind camera). Catalyst aims to generate new audiences for film culture and present a thought provoking and innovative programme.
Catalyst International Film Festival is also keen to engage with emerging filmmakers, ‘new’ rather than inevitably ‘young’, in order to broaden the horizons of potential future filmmakers and audience members. Filmmaking can be enriching as an art form, in and of itself; new technology has democratised filmmaking to some extent and we hope to capitalise on that in time.
AWARDS WINNERS IN 2021 were:
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT - WINNER - KINDLING (USA)
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT - WINNER - ARMOUR OFF (IRL)
BEST IRISH SHORT - WINNER - PADDY (IRL)
JURY SPECIAL MENTION AWARD - STRAY (USA)
SPIRIT OF THE FESTIVAL AWARD - TO ALL MY DARLINGS (IRL)
FILM JURY PANEL:
Barry Dignam, Niall McKay, Hannah Quinn, Cathy Brady, Dr Zélie Asava, Irina Maldea
Best Short Screenplay: WINNER– Focail Baile Croí (Katie McNeice)
RUNNER UP – Butterfly Mountain (Helen Adams)
SPECIAL MENTION – High Tea (Miriam Devitt)
SCREENPLAY JURY PANEL::
Mark O’Halloran, Juanita Wilson, Ailbhe Keogan, Paddy Slattery
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AWARDS WINNERS IN 2020 were:
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT - WINNER - DAYS OF RAGE
Runner Up - Sycamore
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT - WINNER - WELCOME TO A BRIGHT WHITE LIMBO
Runner Up - The Grass Ceiling
BEST IRISH SHORT - WINNER - MATCH
Runner Up - The Girl at the End of the Garden
JURY SPECIAL MENTION AWARD - THE GRASS CEILING
SPIRIT OF THE FESTIVAL AWARD - IN ORBIT and SPREAD THE WINGS (Joint Award)
JURY PANEL: Marissa Aroy, Barry Dignam, Timara Lawless
In the current climate under the impact of COVID-19, we are planning for an in person event but we acknowledge that the festival may be online or in a hybrid version. We will alway follow government guidelines for the safety of attendees.
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