Earlier this year we asked you, the people of Belfast, to get involved by telling us your stories about your life in Belfast and/or filming on your phone something that reflects Belfast in 2024. Thanks to you we have now gathered over 20 hours of footage from over 300 participants.
We have reviewed all the footage and have now entered the post production phase of the project. The film is currently in edit and is on track to premiere in Belfast in December 2024!
As part of our Belfast 2024 commission The Hearth and to take us through this post production phase we invite you to learn a little more about the film industry by hearing directly from those who work within it through our special events…….
POV: Getting into Film
A Panel Discussion for ’The Hearth’ with Belfast Film Festival and Belfast 2024.
Saturday 2nd November
4:30pm – 6pm
The Brian Friel Theatre inside Queen’s Film Theatre, 20 University Square
This moderated panel will offer valuable insights on how to get started in the film industry from experienced professionals including Stacey Gregg, Valene Kane, Jonathan Harden, Martin McCann and Ryan and Andrew Tohill, Chaired by Journalist and Broadcaster William Crawley. Attendees will gain valuable knowledge on how to navigate the industry, build a network, and succeed in the competitive world of film.
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EXHIBITION AND INSTALLATION
Our Faces of Belfast Exhibition, featuring pictures of every single one of our participants in ‘The Hearth’ film process, will be shown in Belfast Exposed Art Gallery from 21st October to 24th November. The exhibition will also be popping up in different places and spaces across the city – so if you spot us out and about, be sure to come and say hello!
BELFAST DOCS
As part of this Belfast 2024 commission, we are delighted to present a community training series on documentary filmmaking. A number of talented local directors such as Alison Millar, Sean Murray and Gillian Callan will pair up with community organisations including The Anaka Collective, The Polish Sisterhood and Ardoyne Youth Club to make a series of short documentaries. The themes and ideas for the documentaries will come entirely from the groups and their interests and ideas, and the filmmakers will work alongside their group, guiding them step by step through the process of documentary filmmaking, from the initial inspiration or idea to the post production edit and finalising moment. This is a fantastic training opportunity for our groups and we cannot wait to share what they have created at the Docs Ireland festival for BFF in June 2025.
If you want to hear more about the project email us at thehearth@belfastfilmfestival.org
You can find out about all the amazing projects that make up Belfast 2024 here: https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/belfast2024/home
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Our Guiding Principles:
The Hearth will be a self-portrait of Belfast on film.
To include every age, creed, race, class, sexuality, neurodiversity and physical ability diversity.
To show moments that move us, make us laugh or cry.
We will encourage you to film things that are magical to you, or unexpected, raw or transformative.
Tell us about moments that changed you.
You can use your own phones or the simplest of cameras and send us your story.
Alternatively, you can write stories, observations, poems which could be used as voice overs.
Don’t worry about how perfect everything is, unfiltered rawness, and authenticity is what is important.
We want to see and hear things that professional filmmakers would miss.
When all submissions are in – an editor and our Creative Lead, Mark Cousins, will look at them all and select the magic moments.
These won’t necessarily be big things, it might be just a joke, a look, a laugh…
The completed film will world premiere at the 2024 Belfast Film Festival, with the contributors and their families there.
It will play at locations around the city and at international film festivals.
