By Claire Corrigan
Two short films by Killucan producer/director Craig Moore have been accepted into the acclaimed Baton Rouge Irish Film Festival this month.
“Any Last Words”, which was one of the films shown at Cannes 2015 and Fastnet Film Festival, and “Monged” which was shown at the Galway Film Fleadh, Chicago Film Festival and both the Cork and Kerry Film Festivals last year as well as being screened in Mullingar cinema last November, will appear at the film festival later this month.
The Baton Rouge Irish Film Festival, which will take place from 29 July to 1 August, was founded in 2009 by the Baton Rouge Irish Club. The event aims to showcase Irish talent, promotes cultural diversity and encourages collaboration between individuals and businesses in Louisiana and Ireland.
The films were two of just 24 chosen from over 300 applications by filmmakers throughout Ireland.
“Monged”, which was selected for the Features category, stars Love/Hate actor John Connors as well as Graham Early and Rex Ryan.
Shot in Mullingar and other parts of Westmeath in August 2014, “Any Last Words” is a tale of revenge and redemption in modern Ireland as one man seeks vengeance on the person who has taken everything away from him.
The film will also be eligible for the O’Kalem Award, which is an audience-voted award for Favorite Short Film.
Speaking to Topic, Craig said he had recently finished writing the sequel to his the well-received independent film. “I had rewritten it about 15 times. It was very important to me that we got it right in every sense. There’s not much point doing it unless it’s done right.”
Talking about the follow-up which will begin filming in October, Craig said that while it is of a similar style to ‘Any Last Words’, there will be some marked differences. “It picks up pretty straight from the end of the last film.”
“The main character has failed in his mission to get revenge and has kind of become a cult hero. The bad guy is still around and he’s about to leave the country. It’s very similar to the first one in a way but there are a lot of differences too. The first film I did completely independently, whereas this time we’re hoping to work with the Arts Council. I want it to be kind of a community type thing and get loads of Mullingar people working on it like make-up and hair stylists.”
The Kilucan man said the filming of the sequel is not before time as it had been two years since the release of “Any Last Words”.
“It’s nearly kind of an oldish film by regular standards. It was shown at Cannes last year but it’s been kind of quiet for the last nine month where it hasn’t really done anything. So for it to get to another festival just before we start into the sequel gives it a kind of kick.”
Craig said that as well as featuring new characters, he wants the film to showcase more of Mullingar. “There will be a lot of the cast from the first film in it but at the same time we’re kind of expanding it as well. We’ll be introducing new characters such as Gardaí and a journalist character. We kind of want to show off the area as well.”
“We’re hoping to be filming in Belvedere down by the lake and in the forest so that’ll be nice and other places like the Joe Dolan bridge and get all the famous landmarks in.”
