Commonwealth athlete, Kerry MacPhee, launches seventh FilmG competition

FILMG, MG ALBA’s highly successful national Gaelic short film competition, has today (Friday 5th September) been launched for a seventh year – with Team Scotland athlete, Kerry MacPhee, on hand to announce this year’s theme.

The competition was launched at Sgoil Lionacleit on the Isle of Benbecula, where Kerry, a former pupil at the school and the first person from the Western Isles to compete in the Commonwealth Games, met pupils and teachers.

This year’s theme ‘Gealladh’, (Promise, Vow or Wager) is something that Kerry herself can relate to having vowed to be the best she can be to get herself to the top of her sport. Kerry used her meeting with the pupils at Sgoil Lionacleit to encourage young people of all ages to pursue their dreams so they too can make it to the top, no matter the discipline.

Kerry said: “When I left Uist to study at University I did not think for a minute I had the talent to pursue my dream as an athlete. I therefore want to try and instil confidence in young people so they believe in themselves and follow their dreams.

“I’d like to thank FilmG for inviting me, it’s great to be part of an exciting Gaelic project for young people and i really enjoyed being a model for one of this year’s theme posters – I wish all the participants in this year’s competition the best of luck.”

Sgoil Lionacleit’s head-teacher, Miller MacDonald, was delighted that FilmG had chosen Sgoil Lionacleit to launch this year’s competition and praised Kerry for her recent successes: “She has shown resilience, tenacity and creative thinking to get to where she is today and we are extremely proud of her.”

Since its launch in 2008, FilmG has encouraged both young people and adults to pick up their cameras and explore their creative talents in conjunction with the use of the Gaelic language. FilmG entrants are asked to make a three to five minute short film in the language but both non-Gaelic speakers and learners are particularly encouraged to get involved, with language help available through the FilmG support programme, TàlantG.

This year’s sees the introduction of a new prize in the Youth category for the ‘Best Young Film-maker(s)’. This prize will be for the individual or team film-makers that has made a film without professional support throughout the process.

Floraidh Forrest, FilmG project manager, said: “Over the last few years we’ve seen an increase in the number of ‘go-it-alone’ film-makers  and we really want to encourage more young people to take the initiative themselves to develop their own ideas into films. Kerry MacPhee is a fine example of a young person who has shown entrepreneurial spirit and pursued her goals to reach the top, we want to see that same entrepreneurial spirit in Gaelic media.”

Also present at the launch was Iseabail MacTaggart, director of Development and Partnership at MG ALBA, she said: “FilmG has been a resounding success since its launch in 2008 and we are certain that the seventh annual competition will once again unearth new talent that can produce exciting short-films in Gaelic.

“Year-on-year, the quality of entries to FilmG has impressed our judging panel and the expectations we had about the creation of new Gaelic media content when we launched the competition have been well and truly surpassed.

“We would encourage everyone who has an interest in filmmaking – young or old, Gaelic speaker or not – to get involved and use the resources available to them on the FilmG website to get their ideas onto the big screen.”

FilmG is now open for entries until Friday 19 December for the Youth competition (12-17 year olds) and until Monday 19 January for the Open competition (over 18 years of age or community groups). All films from previous years are available to watch online at www.filmg.co.uk. If you’d like to make a film and want to know more about the competition, please contact the team at [email protected].

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