KEALKILL National School, Bantry and Togher National School, Dunmanway have both been nominated for an award at the upcoming FÍS Film Festival.

Kealkill N.S. have been nominated for their film “Sammy’s Salmon Survival” alongside Togher N.S who are nominated for their film “Day Dreamers”. The West Cork based schools are among 22 other schools that have been chosen from over 100 entries received from all over the country. The event will be hosted by RTÉ’s Sinead Kennedy at the Helix, Dublin on 3 November.

“Sammy’s Salmon Survival” is an educational film with brilliant comedic moments throughout. The film features a collection of Sammy’s memories as a young salmon and the mishaps he faces growing up in the sea and highlighting the importance of keeping our environment clean. “Day Dreamers” depicts the Togher N.S student’s version of their ‘perfect day’, which features everything from the girls getting pampered to goalkeeping glory for the boys.

The FÍS Film Festival is a Department of Education and Skills initiative, which will see over 800 people attend on the day including 700 primary school children from all over the country, their teachers, parents and a variety of special guests.

To enter the festival, primary schools across the country were asked to devise a five minute long film on a subject of their choice. The film had to be produced by the children and their teachers and entries are judged on imagination and creativity, the originality of the story, excellence in set design, costume design, film direction and production as well as the use of sound, acting and cinematography. Those that use special techniques such as animation or special effects will be awarded extra points.

Awards will be made in a wide variety of categories including Comedy, Acting, Storytelling, Adaptation, Animation, Special Effects, Direction, Costume, Editing, Production, Cinematography, Sound, Public Safety, Best Newcomer, Best Junior Class Production and Historical Adaptation, among others.

The FÍS methodology empowers teachers and children to explore the medium of film and digital media in the primary curriculum.  FÍS helps develop many different areas of the primary curriculum and in particular develops active learning, creative thinking, language, imagination, collaborative learning and problem solving skills as well as giving children hands-on experience of using technology as part of the film making process.

FÍS is an initiative of the Department of Education and Skills that is coordinated by PDST Technology in Education in collaboration with the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT).  It uniquely brings together 1st and 3rd level education as the primary school children produce the films and the MA in Broadcasting students from the National Film School at the Inst. of Art, Design & Technology who are wholly responsible for the broadcasting of the films at the National FÍS Festival in the Helix on 3 November 2015.

Schools from across the country will be able to stream the FÍS Film Festival live online, at the FÍS Film Festival website, www.fisfilmproject.ie.

Seán Gallagher, Deputy Director, PDST, says:

“We have been utterly overwhelmed by the quality of entries this year. The sheer quality made it very difficult to choose our 24 finalists, so hard luck to all the schools that weren’t shortlisted. FÍS is an excellent opportunity to showcase the various ways in which schools can use technology to benefit the holistic development of students and equip them with skills outside of the normal school syllabus. Students are developing their skill set by interacting with new technologies and software, editing and producing quality films while also learning to work together as part of a team. Well done to all the schools who entered and looking forward to the awards ceremony on the 3rd of November!”

RTE’s Sinead Kennedy is looking forward to hosting the event this year and she says she can’t wait to meet all of the finalists, “The FÍS Film Festival is such an inspiring and heartwarming event which every year showcases the amazing creativity of school children from all over Ireland. I am really looking forward to meeting all the talented film makers and their teachers this year and presenting them with their awards, congratulations to all!”