Lights, camera, action: Galway filmmakers shine at 48-hour film challenge
The energy in Town Hall Theatre this past Sunday night was vibrant with young filmmakers running on little to no sleep and excitement by the completion of the ninth annual Little Cinema Galway City of Film 48 Hour Challenge.
Twelve teams rose to the challenge of creating a five-minute suspense short film in under 48 hours, handling every element of production, from pitching and scripting to shooting, editing, and final delivery, before a public screening and awards ceremony.
Each team was gifted an odd and unusual prop to incorporate in their film. Some of the featured props included a Rubik’s cube, a doll head, and a holographic poster of puppies and butterflies – an interesting item to include in a theme that encourages eerie music and an ‘edge of your seat’ plot. Also required to be included in each film was the line “It doesn’t work like that”, and a ‘point of view’ shot angle.
The teams represented a wide range of demographics and worked tirelessly to bring their short films to life. Some veteran directors returned for another year, while others took on the challenge for the very first time.
With just four crew members and two actors, one only 17 years old, The Bog Folk claimed two awards for their film Fireflies: Best Music Score and Best Cinematography.
Director Barra Convrey, a Galway-based filmmaker, celebrated his team and actors, saying that their collaboration was what made him most proud once the project was complete. It was a group effort where no idea was a bad one.
“Suspense we found was a bit more workable; we could get more variety. Essentially, we all bashed heads on creating a five-minute piece that would have a lot of sustained tension but with a sort of impactful release at the end. There was no vetoing process, we shot everything,” he said.
Sweeping the awards ceremony was the film Roomies by the team named Wet Yoga about a tumultuous dinner involving two lovers and their unaware landlord – who took home five awards including Best Film, voted by audience members and judges.
Roomies lead performer Mark Leavy held the award for Best Performer as he told the Irish Independent it’s “an amazing honour” to be recognised for all the hard work his team put in. He hopes to be right back in front of the camera for the challenge next year.
Project co-ordinator of Ardán and co-creator of Little Cinema Kenny Gaughan said: “The fact that the audience voted for the same best film as the judges did and the filmmakers voted for the same best film showed that it was almost a unanimous decision. I think it shows how much quality of grassroots film making there is in Galway and in Ireland – but Galway is the hub of short films.”
He called the room on Sunday evening “electric” praising the array of supports from sponsors and funding from the local authority for the ability to put on such an event.
Oran Roper received the Spirit of the Challenge award for his proactive efforts to make improvements in the challenge. Most notably changing the category of Lead Actor/Actress to a more inclusive recognition as Lead Performer.
Mr Roper told the Irish Independent that he “nearly cried” when he saw the updated categories calling on Kenny Gaughan’s love for film and this project for the continuing success of the challenge.
Looking towards the future, Mr Roper added he loves the “camaraderie” of being on the camera crew of a larger set and hopes to continue in that line of work with Dublin in his sites.
In total, 150 film artists spanning over 200km of County Galway participated in this year’s events.
The 48 Hour Challenge is hosted by a conglomeration of supports as part of the 2025 UNESCO Galway City of Film programme managed by Ardán, recent recipient of Communicating Europe funding, on behalf of Galway City and County Council. Funding comes from arts programs within the local authority and additional support is available through the Department of Culture, Communications, Sport, and Screen Ireland.