The Model intends to bring Cannes to Sligo with the help of esteemed film-maker Harun Farocki. Harun shares his valuable knowledge on the art of making a one-shot short film with a cross section of individuals – from art students to truck drivers, in order to help them create there own short films which will be screened at The Model’s film festival this Autumn.

The remit is to film ‘work’, whether paid or unpaid in the context of a post industrial Ireland. It quickly became apparent that the recession and the rural setting were also quite significant factors in determining what was available to film.

Each short film is an examination of the process of film making itself, by limiting each short to 1 to 3 minutes. As an unedited single shot Harun has encouraged us to question what we are doing when we choose to film. Every time we make a decision to edit, zoom in or pan across a scene we add our own kind of narrative to the short. So we learned to question the effect on meaning of every action we make as we shoot. By limiting our use of such techniques Harun has encouraged us to consider the ‘gaze’ and the effect that it has on the viewer.

Harun enjoyed working locally and says he has learned far more about Irish society and culture through this process then would be possible otherwise. The humanity and integrity of these pieces need to be seen to be believed. Who would have thought a rubbish dump could be so moving or the cleaning out of a bird cage in a pet shop so intriguing.

The finished films will be screened a the Model Cinema soon, we will keep you posted.