Kerry Film Festival representatives attend Cannes and Venice Film Festivals in 2007

Representatives of the Kerry Film Festival attended both the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival in 2007 promoting the Kerry Film Festival to international filmmakers, networking with other festival representatives, and helping to increase awareness of the Kerry Film Festival on the international circuit.

Kerry Film Festival understands the importance of the unique networking opportunities presented at these events and the efforts in 2007 have created new opportunities including festival twinning and filmmakers' seminar opportunities with European and American organisations and festivals.

The programme for the 2007 Kerry Film Festival includes a seminar presented in partnership with Chapman University, USA, resulting from meetings held at Cannes, and many of the films presented in our shorts competition were a result of the contacts made during that trip.

Links with our Italian festival partner were strengthened by visiting the Venice Film Festival, a trip which also allowed Kerry Film Festival staff to promote the event to a new network of film industry representative.

2008 will see international film represented in greater numbers with plans for twinning with the Krakow Film Festival in Poland, Huesca Film Festival in Spain, San Francisco Irish Film Festival and the Chicago Irish Film Festival in the USA, joining our existing film exchange partner Filmare in Italy to bring the best of international short films to the Irish audience and the best of Irish short film to a worldwide audience.

Our mission is to provide opportunity for international filmmakers and audience to attend the Kerry Film Festival and to appreciate the tradition of visual storytelling that prevails not only in County Kerry but amongst Irish Filmmakers.

Attendance at these festivals was made possible through the generous support of Culture Ireland and Fáilte Ireland.