 Mullen there's going to be a film festival this weekend because it's back for its seventh year and it starts this Thursday, runs from Thursday until Sunday and I suppose what amongst what it does is it offers a family entertainment at a crucial time because it's over the midterm break and Megan Harding from the committee joins me now to tell me a wee bit more. Megan thanks for coming in and Morris is nowhere to be seen but you could take that up with him. Yeah it definitely will. I mean he couldn't get to be with us but the festival since it started it's grown sort of every year isn't it? Each year it's got better and the workshops are getting better and the kids are excited to get into them so they're selling out quick. Yeah good good well it's a good sign of a festival I suppose that you know from previous experience and there's a greater demand the next year. Yeah definitely. It starts on Thursday anyhow and it starts with well what else for a film festival but an Oscars party but this is one with a difference because you get to dress up as a superhero. Yeah it's really great so the kids in the local primary schools and people throughout the community have made little films and they're shown on the big screen and it's very exciting because we actually have Karen Gorman from Karen Gorman cast and chosen best actor and actress and you know there's all bits in the films and they come up and receive their awards or Oscars and they're all dressed as superheroes. That's great. That's great. It's a great fun great family event. And there's other short films as well. Some of Arthur Lynch's films will be shown. Is that earlier in the day? Yeah and he's actually showing some of his films in the St Vincent de Paul Centre as well. It sounds really exciting some of the work he has done he was talking and giving us the intro about I mean the research and work he puts into it it's another level compared to some of our local attempts at filmmaking. Absolutely and it's a great social history into the bargain. Now the bars and clubs or bars and restaurants I should say around the town are all involved as you'd expect and on Friday there's a couple of screenings. Yeah so on Friday there's one in Ansta the cafe and it's a bit of a music quiz with live music and stuff that sounds like it's going to be fun. Then in Bon and Boy in the restaurant there's like a wine kind of well it's a tasting but also they're going to be blending the wines as well and there's a film shown about like a con man that was involved in wine making and you know and then it'll be in for that. Oh so tie in with that? Yeah the movie and we had that a couple of years back and it was really successful and it really good fun so it's brought back by demand this time. Brilliant, brilliant and there's screening as well of Nothing Compares with the Cheney Fire film. Yeah a beautiful thing to watch actually. And on to Saturday and the action moves to a Rathmullen house because there's going to be well again some screenings but also some master classes. Yeah exactly a lot of things happening on this Saturday there and well I suppose like we've got the adult film making one which is really good because the more adults that do that every year the more submissions we get for our short movies and you know it makes it really good. One thing leads to another. Yeah it's it's building up and this year we have like the reason the kids are dressing as superheroes is because we're doing like a local legend like your local hero is the like you know the theme that we've gone for and you know we have actually a lot of good history in Rathmullen and we were involved with the DFibs in the town looking after the defibrillators and we actually found out that a guy that has a house there had invented one of the portable ones so we've made a wee movie about him and then we made one with the University of Ulster and the cinematic arts team and we made one to promote where the DFibs are in the town and how easy it is to use them and do CPR. So what this is doing is it's showing how easy it is or maybe difficult it is to to make a short film difficult to make a really good one but it's very easy to get the basics and that's what this is about. Yeah and I'm not great with technology but when they show you the little apps and the way you can do it it's great to just show up with your mobile phone and when they show you how easy it is you get involved the next year and you make a little film and it was great too for people in business because you learn how to make small TikToks and videos and good tips and stuff you know all for advertising as well. And there's going to be some short films shown by you know those that are good at some students film students and then a panel discussion and especially showing a fiddler on the roof. Yeah exactly and local musicians involved with that too so a bit of Irish music and stuff through it so it's great to see it all come together. And on Sunday well there is I see there's a film treasure hunt what does that involve? Well that'll it'll be a bit of fun and you know the basically it's the idea to get you out and about and you'll just there'll be clues and follow it around you can go as a family or a gang in the car you know have a bit of fun and go round. It'll be as much about local history as we'll be about film history. Exactly yeah. Okay brilliant and there's a documentary as well about Con Kill on Sunday. Yeah another one that'll be a good one to see like the other there's a lot happening and with as well I think the the polar plunges the great one and for the special Olympics and stuff we're doing as well. That's on Saturday. That's going to be on the Saturday at two o'clock. Yeah because there'll be a lot of activity around that anyhow given that it had to be deferred so that's pretty big on Saturday as well. So plenty to entertain and amuse and stimulate over the weekend in Rathmullen and those workshops as well I mean I'm just looking down here there's a special effects makeup and a screen printing workshop that's on Thursday actually there's the star and filmmaking one on Friday and there's a flipbook animation and stunt acting one on Saturday. So plenty to choose from there not just about making your short film. Well my children done the you know the special effects makeup on a few years back and at Halloween they're unbelievable making bullet wounds and scars and all the skills like they learn are brilliant. The stuntman workshop unbelievable the kids were making TikToks of falling and fake fighting and they just absolutely love it but the star making one that Moira's doing is really good. The kids have done it through the school before and it's lovely you know it's like she's more into interior design makes these lovely little stars it's all crafts and all it's a nice one as well. And it's way to stimulate the imagination especially in young people as well. Okay and where can people get more information about what's on if they want to dip in and out of it over the weekend? Well there's a lot of our brochures around the shops but also there's the Facebook page as well for the Rathmore and Film Festival and and also if they look up their Rathmore and Film Festival website as well they should be able to find the tickets and all the details in the online brochure. Okay and some of the events are ticketed? Yeah yeah. Okay best look with it over the weekend Megan thanks man. Thank you very much.