Irish Film

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Irish Film - chapter seven - Short Films and Plural Visions by Martin McLoone

If the outlets are not there for short films, or only exist in a schedule that runs counter to their aesthetics, then what is their purpose and why is so much public money invested in them? The answer, of course, lies in their use value as training for the main business of filmmaking - feature length (or at least, 'television hour'-length) production. This is implicit in the Film Board's rationale at the setting up of the Short Cuts scheme and there is no doubt that for filmmakers the attraction is that they receive the training, gain the necessary experience and then end up with a 'calling card' for the …