We spoke with Rachel O'Connor, press manager for the Darklight festival about the success of this years festival and the growth in digital film making.

This was the second year for the Digital Film festival - How did this years festival compare to last years?

Very different, yet again we were really pleased with the positive reaction from the public. People are still very curious about digital film making and the technical possibilities, so we are pleased to be able to show them!

Again this year the student work was very strong and we were delighted to give the students a platform to show their work which normally would not get shown at "conventional" festivals. In response to last years festival people had requested more screenings, we put them on; separate short and documentary programmes, people also requested separate and more diverse seminars and workshops we had three seminars this year they were all very interesting, very successful highly informative.

The major difference to last year was confidence I think we knew what we were doing this time! and the public knew what to expect, they were slightly more educated in the ways of the technology. Also the filmmakers and their films were more varied /diverse and showed better uses of the different applications, for example we had a lot more Flash work this year...very mature and accomplished use of technical packages and software...

What were some of the key highlights of this years festival?

Definitely Julien Donkey Boy, Harmony Korine's DV Dogme film, premiere in Ireland. The Atom Films seminar, The Sony Camera seminar, The Graphic Japan Programme on Friday night people came out of the cinema with hands in the air and one guy shouting yes yes!!! A good reaction! Saturday night digital images and musical mix...wonderful loved by all who attended...all 1000+ of them...

Sunday's documentaries and shorts was a really special one: back to the conventions of film making ...but a great day for Darklight. 'Essie' the subject of Loopline's documentary 'Essies last stand' attended the screening, it was a really lovely moment for all of us. Made you realise what it is all about in the end.

What was the inspiration for the festival? are there examples of similar US or European film festivals?

Yes, In the initial research, Nicky Gogan & Sue Patterson travelled to Res fest. in New York, and One Dot Zero in London to look at how other festivals were showcasing new digital works, last year darklight screened a side bar of the best of these festivals, this year they did the same but from Rotterdam filmfestival, showing Graphic Japan...and the Watchful Eye, from San Francisco. Res Fest would be a good example of a Digital film festival in the States, One Dot Zero in UK.

Are there many Irish Digital Filmmakers at the moment?

Yes there seem to be many Irish filmakers and Artists who own digital film cameras but this is simply the upgraded version of the old VHS video camera...

Are there many Irish people using the technology to make digital films with dv cameras, special effects, CGI, post production effects?

Yes, there certainly are a lot of people out there experimenting with the technology :in the colleges all the students are aware of the possibilities and are using it, in the industry the filmmakers are aware too and now they are all buckling down and getting used to the new tools, and as we see in darklight I would think doing a good job.

Are they mainly involved in the commercial sector of DV?

Yes, one whole section of the festival is dedicated to showing the best from all the commercial houses and high end DV usage. Much of this is commercial, animated and very very slick, when the festival was originally been established many of the irish artists/designers/ filmmakers known to darklight were working in post facilities. They had access to all this wonderful material, and in a way were the pioneers in its use. It is not only commercial houses though that can use the technology any more much of the really exciting work can be done at home on mac with fire wire and etc..

As more and more filmmaking involves the digital process, will Darklight become more of an alternative Film Festival in general? or more of a Digital festival in general, incorporating not just film but games, the internet, and multimedia?

It already does incorporate all these elements. We have an art exhibition which shows all the best and most exciting sites around, also in the art exhibiton many installations and multimedia videos... The Motion screenings, already include gaming sequences ......and is very interested in this area without concentrating on it too much. The problem or the beauty of darklight it depends on how you look at is that we can show so much work under the umbrella of digital film or digital art or digital special effects. The main theme is that the work would be of a high quality, nice aesthetics, interesting unusual groundbreaking etc...so in some ways yes very alternative but not so to cut off your audience. Many of these filmmakers artists do commercials already and are catering for the mainstream public.

Although bandwith in Ireland is on the slow side, there has been a rise in digital film showcase websites such as www.atomfilms.com in the US - Do you think the internet will play an important role in the development of Digital filmmaking in the next few years?

Yes , as our seminar showed absolutely, it may not be the most preferable option but it is a reality - its happening now and the filmboard announced at darklight a new scheme with Atom films so Irish filmmakers will be on line soon, or at least getting their films show on line. Call the Film Board for a good quote on this it would be interesting to hear what they have to say about this matter.

Music plays an important role in the festival, particularly dance music. Do the two areas work well together?

Yes again the music industry was one of the first to embrace new technologies, sound has been digital for some time and with mp3's and 4's the music industry is really out there streets ahead of us all. The music video industry has also been out there pioneering new ways of using film technology for really innovative videos. In the UK -Chris Cunningham, in Ireland -Image Now, Alan Lambert for D1.

The Saturday night event has always been very important to darklight, again using all the latest and greatest equipment, live streaming, v-JAmming, mixing visuals, digital projections, and music live all very cool and the end result both time has been superb! This year 'The Whispering Gallery' from TCD multimedia and sound MA proved to us all that we have alot to learn when it comes to sound. These guys mixed and scratched noise live on stage to create a beautiful orchestral dance piece it was amazing

How did the festival get started? Was it hard to get sponsorship for such a project in Ireland?

Yes, Sink Digital Media which is the company of NIcky, Sue and Chantal-the festival Directors, pay for every thing their company pays for all the administrative costs of the festival, everyone works for free, all the equipment and facilities have been supplied for free from lovely kind freinds and colleagues, begged and borrowed, basic all the festival relies on goodwill and some funding from the Arts Council. It is really hard to get sponsorship for this kind of thing in Ireland as people dont understand what they are supposed to be supporting but we feel that we've shown them now and next year we'll be flying! We hope.

For those who want to get involved in Digital Filmmaking are there courses available in Ireland

yes, contact Arthouse, Filmbase and many of the DITs, art colleges. And we are running in association with ION, a series of seminars and workshops over the year to teach hands on and theoretical DV concepts and filmaking

have you already got plans for another festival next year?

yep another festival bigger and better than the last if it possible! There seems to be a real need and interest in what we do, so we'll will willingly provide the goods!

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