The Arts Council is pleased to announce that Cara Holmes and Michael
John Whelan are the successful recipients of its 2021 Reel Art Awards.
Reel Art is the Arts Council's long-running creative arts documentary scheme.
The two successful
films will premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival in February 2023.
The Arts Council wishes to congratulate both artists on their awards and we
look forward to seeing the films reaching Irish and international audiences on
their completion.
Fields of Darkness
Director: Michael John Whelan
Producer: Gambit Pictures
Referencing Irish locations, lives and stories from the past and present
Fields of Darkness explores various
physical and metaphorical perspectives on darkness as an ever-present
element in our daily lives and the natural world. Centred around the
community and landscape of the darkest inhabited place in Ireland different
tangents are explored, creating a highly imaginative exploration of
physiological, psychological, environmental and historic perspectives, weaving
together diverse strands from art history, experiences of blindness,
dance, mental health testimonies and Irish folklore.
Michael John Whelan makes work incorporating photography, video installation, sculpture and
film. Exploring environmental effects related to historical events and
future projections, his work has been shown extensively at
institutions including MAK (Vienna), Centre Pompidou (Metz), Jameel Arts
Centre (Dubai), Kunsthall Stavanger and Museum Bochum. Since 2014, Michael
has been making experimental shorts, which have been screened internationally
at festivals and institutions including Aesthetica Film Festival (York),
Kiasma Museum (Helsinki), TULCA Festival of Visual Arts and
Kunstverein Bremerhaven. His work is part of the collections of the Arts
Council of Ireland, the University of the Arts, London, and the Institute
of Art, Design + Technology, Dún Laoghaire. He is represented by Grey Noise,
Dubai. For more information: www.michaeljohnwhelan.com.
The Shepherds Script [working title]
Director: Cara Holmes
Writer: Orla Barry
Executive Producer: Nuala Cunningham
The film is an experimental and visually
immersive documentary. It is a film that embraces the tenacity, humour and the
physicality that allows a shepherd to tend her flock but also how she balances
a successful art career and teaching practice. In this genre bending film, we
move between spaces, the sheep world, the art world and the natural world.
After ten years of working and building her pedigree Lleyn flock, Orla
Barry contemplates her life and at 52, something might have to go. It’s
not looking good for the sheep.
Cara
Holmes is a film editor and
director with 12 years experience. Cara has worked on feature and short
documentaries on a wide range of subjects, from the surreal world of
self-experimentation to a visceral snapshot of choreographer and dancer,
Oona Doherty.Cara's
editing credits include feature documentaries Father of the
Cyborgs and Lost in France. Her directing credits include the award
winning film Welcome To A Bright White Limbo. She has presented her work
at festivals including Dublin International Film Festival, HotDocs,
Sheffield Doc|Fest, Aesthetica, Catalyst Film Festival, IFI Documentary
festival, GAZE, Offline film festival and the Edinburgh film
festival. Welcome To A Bright White Limbo received a Special Jury
mention at the Tribeca film festival in NYC and won an IFTA for best short in
2020.
IMDB
link: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2993022/
Orla Barry is both visual artist and
shepherd. She lived in Brussels for 16 years and now runs a flock of
pedigree Lleyn sheep on the coast of rural Wexford. Her artistic practice
includes writing, performance, video and sound installation. Performances
include WoWmen Festival, Kaaitheatre Brussels, 2020; Playground festival,
Museum M, Leuven, TAZ festival Ostend, 2019; Performatik 17, Brussels;
Midsummer Festival, Cork 2017, Dublin Theatre
Festival; 2016, Project Arts Centre 2014; Saturday Night Live,
Tate Modern 2009. Solo exhibitions include MuZee, Ostend 2019 (with
Els Dietvorst), Argos, Brussels, Quetzal Art Centre, Portugal (with
Rui Chafes), Wexford Art Centre, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, 2017;
TBG&S, Dublin 2016; Mothers Tankstation (2014, Dublin); CCB,
Museu Bernardo, Lisbon 2011(with Rui Chafes); Irish Museum of Modern Art,
Dublin (2006); Camden Arts Centre & SMAK, Ghent 2005.
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