Two East Clare teens were involved the production of a new original short film that had its world premiere recently, in association with the Fresh Film Festival.
Alfie Hollingsworth and Dylan Bickerton from Feakle were among 11 young Irish filmmakers who came together from all over the country in the first initiative of its kind in Ireland and set out to achieve funding and on their own to conceive, shoot and create an original short film shot to professional industry standards.
The two 16-year-olds, who are students at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Tulla, were involved in the production of film, entitled Captured. Alfie took on the role of editor, while Dylan was director of photography.
The pair were previously recognised for their filmmaking talents having scooped a highly commended award for the production of The Elwood Killing: The Beginning, at the Young Irish Filmmaker’s Awards in 2011 and the Brown Bag Animation Award in 2010 for their animated film, Reflection. The initiative began in 2011 when a group of talented young Irish filmmakers from ages 16 to 20 were chosen on the strength of their films submitted to the Fresh Film Festival to come together for a one-day Hothouse workshop.
The Hothouse Group, run by Fresh Film Festival, set out to give the young people a space in which to discuss and plan a very ambitious project – a film made to professional standards.
The team had to overcome many obstacles throughout the course of the project, where the group had to travel from different parts of the country and, for some, dealing simultaneously with the pressures of Leaving Cert year. 
The cast and crew gathered at the start of November for an intensive week of filming in a number of locations around Limerick and editing began in early 2012.
During this time they met with established film makers and mentors including Pat Shortt, Lance Daly, Tony Tracy, Donal Foreman, Miriam Garcia Mortell, Dominik Kosicki  and Sean Moloney, who gave advice and support to the project.  Funding was achieved under the Arts Council Youth Ensemble Scheme and the group of 11 young film makers went on, over the next six months, to conceive, script, produce, film, edit and present their own short film.
Captured premiered on Monday, April 2 in Collins Barracks before an invited audience as the centrepiece of the 2012 Fresh Film Festival.
The 12-minute short film was written by Leeona Duff and directed by Penny McGovern and is a gripping psychological thriller that deals with the complex issue of identity.
The production team for the film was made up of students from both secondary school and colleges. The team worked together to decide who would fill each of the film crew roles, scripted and shot the film and continued to work as a group to edit and deliver it.
For more information or to view the film, visit www.freshfilmfestival/captured/.