A Limerick Minute community film project

I went to see the premiere of A Limerick Minute at the Belltable Arts Centre today (March 22), which is a series of short films produced by people in communities around the city.

Throughout 2010 Christina Gangos—a documentary filmmaker of some note—taught and mentored learners from local adult education centres in the art of observational documentary.
The participants “started from zero”, took part in some technical workshops and then used the equipment to express their unique viewpoints. The outcome is five short films aiming to present “diverse approaches of exploring Limerick through a camera lens”. The common thread through all the stories is expressing “the beauty of the ordinary and the everyday”.

Frank O’Connor made two shorts including one with a craftsman at work with a local radio station on in the background and one of woods with atmospheric sounds.
Margaret Fitzgerald’s film touched on a very emotive issue. She highlighted that 20 people are missing in the River Shannon and filmed a search crew going about their work.
Gerard Kelly was seemingly the rebel of the group but Ms Gangos praised him for showing how breaking ‘the rules’ of this type of filmmaking can pay off. His film used the “camera as microscope” on the hive of activity that is Limerick Docks.
Donnacha Barry, a keen photographer, made a film about the vibrant Milk Market. In it, Tom, the busker who plays the accordion around town(a real local character), plays while a shopper sings along.

Ms Gangos paid tribute to the participants for taking on a challenge and overcoming obstacles to achieve their goals, which is the whole point of adult learning. She said she and the filmmakers had a lot of support and the films were also about communities in areas often “marginalised by the media”.

All the films were interesting snapshots of Limerick life, whether denotative or abstract. A minute or two is a very short time in which to capture the essence of something so the novice filmmakers did very well. The project was a great way of engaging and including ordinary people in the arts.

The project was facilitated through the Artist in the Community Scheme—delivered by CREATE and the Arts Council. Áine Lyne (LCEN) approached Ms Gangos to do the project and Susan Holland made sure the films would be seen as widely as possible. It was supported by: Limerick Community Education Network (LCEN), City of Limerick VEC Adult Education Service, Cork Film Centre, Limerick City Gallery, Daghdha Dance Company, Belltable Arts Centre, Omniplex Cinemas and IFCO.

The films are coming to a cinema near you! They’re due to screen at mainstream cinemas before scheduled films in Limerick and across Ireland. Locally, they will also be screened before films shown in the Belltable Film Club and in the foyer of the Limerick City Gallery of Art and the Occupy Space on Thomas Street.