Paul Mescal announced as special guest at a Cork film festival

IRISH actor Paul Mescal has been announced as the special guest for the upcoming 13th Fastnet Film Festival in Schull, Co Cork.

Paul, who catapulted to fame after playing Connell in the BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People in 2020, will feature in a conversation piece with Irish film and television director Lenny Abrahamson at the Fastnet Film Festival on Saturday, May 28. The conversation piece is scheduled to begin at 5pm.

The annual film festival, which will take place in Schull from Wednesday, May 25 to Sunday, May 29 was officially launched on Thursday, April 21 at the Cinematographers’ Party at The Crane Lane Theatre.

Speakers on the night included festival director John Kelleher and writer/director Gerard Stembridge.

Two hundred filmmakers were also in attendance to celebrate the huge success of the festival. There was music and screenings of several clips of short films submitted to the competition.

There will be over 50 participating guests in this year’s line-up including Stephen Rea, Aisling Walsh, Ciarán Hinds, stars of Conversations with Friends Alison Oliver, Joe Alwyn as well as David Puttnam, Lenny Abrahamson and many more film experts.

Highlights

Other highlights from the much-anticipated festival include more than 300 short films, 13 feature-length films, outdoor cinema, a live concert from Interference, a focus on Scottish Film, Irish Day on Cape Clear, and Carmel Winters will host the now-famous film quiz.

The Fastnet Film Festival is a major showcase for Irish and international short film production, focusing on the craft of film. It is held in high regard on both a national and international level for several years now.

This year’s film festival will run a series of seminars, masterclasses and workshops covering, directing, acting, casting, auditioning, cross-platform media, shorts to feature, sound, production and multi-camera filming, distribution and more.

Fringe events include live music, drama, book readings, Antarctic virtual reality exhibition, café viewing all over town and free family entertainment for all.

This year’s festival which will be held on the final weekend in May 2022 promises to be another intriguing and innovative festival.