'We're so happy to represent Ireland': Cork pupils competing at International Youth Film Festival

BISHOPSTOWN Community School is representing Ireland this weekend at the International Youth Film Festival in Spain.

The four-day event in Plasencia will see entrants from around the world compete for a first-prize trophy and diploma.

The video entry, created by the students at Bishopstown Community School, entitled ‘Live and Let Live’, is based on diversity and inclusion, and tackles issues of racism, gender discrimination, and queerphobia through song and spoken word.

The piece, which also made it to the final of the FRESH International Film Festival, is backed by original music created and produced by the students, alongside Cork’s Garry McCarthy, from GMC Beats.

Irish Sign Language (ISL) and subtitles are also used throughout the short film to represent the hearing-impaired students at the school.

Competing in a category against Greece, Austria, and Finland, two students and their teacher, Rebecca Milner, are attending the festival, kicking off at the Alkazar Theatre.

Ms Milner told The Echo: “We’re so happy to represent Ireland and we’re really hoping that we do well in our category.

“We wanted to do something that would represent a modern Ireland, and include that message of working together for inclusion, to represent all the different communities within Ireland that we see today.

“We’re the only post-primary school outside of Dublin that has a hearing-impaired unit, and we also wanted to represent our students who couldn’t hear the song, so we did that by incorporating ISL and subtitles, so people could see, hear, and read our message.

“There’s a history of film and creativity at our school, and we would obviously love to take home the win.”

The short film, which comes to just under four minutes in length, can be watched on YouTube here or by searching ‘Live and Let Live’ Bishopstown Community School.