Submissions are now closed and successful applicants will be announced in early October.
IGNITE is a bilingual talent development programme directed towards emerging Irish and Northern Irish documentary filmmakers embarking on their first or second non-fiction feature film. Created in a unique collaboration between the island’s first and newest film festivals, Cork International Film Festival and Docs Ireland, this cross-border partnership will foster a new generation of Irish/Northern Irish documentary filmmakers.
Applications are accepted in English and as Gaeilge, with a particular interest in Irish language projects:
Year Two of the IGNITE Documentary Talent Development Programme follows the enormous success of Year One where six feature documentary projects from emerging filmmakers were developed through training, workshops and one-to-one mentoring. The pilot programme also included targeted career development for the participating filmmakers, who included Gillian Callan (director of Beatle Island), Laura Smith and Lorraine Harton (director & producer of The Honeypot), Michael Barwise and Sean Mullan (co-directors of Hy-Brasil), John Conway and Mairéad Ní Thréinir (director & producer of Learning to Fall), Cara Holmes and Evan Horan (director & producer of Searching for Space), and Ross McClean (director of Untitled Hydebank Project).
“The support and expert guidance we’ve received through IGNITE has helped us shape and develop the project along a path that feels true to the film and to us as filmmakers, and we’ve been able to identify a place in the film world where this project will thrive.” Michael Barwise & Sean Mullan – Co-Directors, Hy-Brasil
This is a project-led scheme, which supports the progression of the selected projects and their teams through training focused on the development process of documentary from inception to exhibition. The scheme fosters a new generation of creative non-fiction talent from all over Ireland to pursue their first or second feature, and to provide them with a platform to develop the spectrum of skills and knowledge required to succeed as a feature documentary filmmaker on an international level.
During this comprehensive training initiative, participants will gain a grounding in all facets of project development. They will acquire market knowledge of the documentary industry, learning about the current trends in non-fiction film production, and an expansive understanding of the sector. The programme will include workshops, masterclasses, and in person conversations with established documentarians, broadcasters, funders, sales agents, and other industry professionals. All training will take place in a relaxed learning environment to allow for maximum learning potential and the opportunity to network and foster new relationships.
The IGNITE programme will provide a long-term engagement, comprising:
- Training days of workshops at Cork International Film Festival in November 2021, and Docs Ireland in June 2022
- An out-of-festival training event in early Spring 2021
- The opportunity to attend a leading International Documentary Film Festival
The Ignite Documentary Talent Development programme is supported by TG4, the Arts Council of Ireland, Screen Skills Ireland, Screen Skillnet, Northern Ireland Screen and Arts & Business NI.
Submissions are now closed and successful applicants will be announced in early October.
