Party movie shortlisted for Drinkaware award

TWO Clare students were involved in a production entitled The House Party, which has been shortlisted in a prestigious national student film and multimedia competition.
Peter Moloney from Bridgetown and James Skerritt from Lahinch were involved in making the film shortlisted in the Dare2bdrinkaware.ie film and multimedia competition, organised by drinkaware.ie
The competition, now in its fifth year, challenges students to explore the relationship between Irish culture and drinking through a film or multimedia project. The theme for this year’s competition was drinking in a home environment.
Peter wrote the script as well as editing and directing, while James was the main cameraman.
They are students at Limerick Institute of Technology and Peter outlined what their film is about. “It’s a mock houseparty with two commentators that are sort of talking about the events and highlights of the party. There’s two people at the party, one sensible guy who alternates his drinks with water and things and eats throughout the party. The other fella, his housemate, gets very drunk, ends up in a pool of his own vomit and has to be carried out of the house party.
“It’s a three minute short film and it’s up on youtube. There’s a link on the drinkaware.ie website too.” He said about one months of work went into the project.
Eleven film and multimedia projects, by students from around Ireland have been shortlisted for the 2012 competition, including The House Party.
Speaking at the shortlisting event, Fionnuala Sheehan, chief executive of drinkaware.ie, said many of the entries show a more realistic side to alcohol consumption than what is portrayed on reality TV.
“Reality TV can leave young people with the mistaken impression that excessive alcohol consumption in the home is normal, is without negative consequences, and can even lead to rewards,” she said.
“My fear is that – because of the prevalence of scenes of excessive drinking and drunkenness on reality TV programmes – viewers are becoming desensitised. Such programmes sometimes glorify and normalise excessive levels of home drinking, rather than portraying a truly realistic stance. The reality is that most Irish people are capable of enjoying a few drinks in their homes without going overboard.
“This year’s shortlisted entries highlight the side of Ireland’s drinking culture that reality TV shows forget to mention: the cost of heavy drinking for your health, your family and your future. They also demonstrate how people can be more sensible in their approach to alcohol, for example by drinking water in between alcoholic drinks, or by using smartphone technology to keep track of how much they have drank and when they have reached their limit,” she added.
“We are delighted with the quality and creativity of the shortlisted entries from Clare and all over the country – and particularly pleased to see that the students who entered Dare2bdrinkaware.ie have a more realistic stance on drinking in a home environment than the producers and stars of reality TV. If viewers want a real dose of reality, they should get online and check out the shortlisted entries on our website now,” Ms Sheehan concluded.
The shortlisted entries in Dare2bdrinkaware.iewill now go forward for judging by a panel of prestigious film and multimedia industry insiders, including Miriam Allen, managing director of the Galway Film Fleadh; blogger Darragh Doyle; Gavin Burke, presenter of ‘Cinerama’ on Phantom 105.2; Ciarán Norris, Head of Digital with Mindshare and Scott Ahearn, welfare officer with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI).
The judges will award €1,000 prizes to the best film and multimedia entries, and €500 prizes to the runners-up in each category. As well as the prizes awarded by the judging panel, one film and one multimedia entry will win special ‘public vote’ prizes: all shortlisted entries are available to view online, and members of the public can vote for their favourite entries up until 5pm on Wednesday, April 18, on www.dare2bdrinkaware.ie.