Call for submissions

Dear artist,

The Creative Ireland Programme in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) is inviting applications for creative projects that can meaningfully connect people with the profound changes that are happening in our environment, society and economy arising from climate change, and to transform that connection into behaviour change or climate action.

There is one open call to organisations, NGOs/collectives/networks etc. working with creative and cultural practitioners, and another call restricted to local authorities working either individually or with other local authorities or external partners, and it is with regard to this call that we are contacting you now.

Since 2015 Leitrim, Sligo and Roscommon County Councils have worked strategically as a collective in the area of film development, seeking to support the ongoing development of filmmakers that live in the three counties and collectively facilitating filmmaking in the region. This gave rise to the SLR film project (www.slrfilm.ie) and the Enterprise Ireland funded Creative Heartlands project, which looks to develop the film sector and support the sustainability of the wider creative sector.

With this in mind we are now seeking expressions of interest from filmmakers based in any of the three counties who would be interested in making an innovative short film that addresses an aspect of the climate agenda as outlined by Creative Ireland and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications in the briefing document available here – https://www.creativeireland.gov.ie/app/uploads/2021/03/Creative_Climate_Action_Brief_final.pdf.

Films would generally be between 5 to 20 minutes in length with indicative budgets of between €5,000 to €15,000 each.

Our intention is for the three partner local authorities to develop a joint application with Creative Heartlands for the commission of six short films with a geographic spread across the three-county region. Filmmakers must be based in either Leitrim, Roscommon or Sligo and must set and shoot their project in one or any combination of the Counties Leitrim, Roscommon and Sligo. This series of films would address different aspects or concerns regarding climate change and would employ a variety of different approaches and styles of filmmaking such as documentary, animation or fine-art filmmaking. In line with the guidelines of the scheme, projects should seek to encourage behaviour change as opposed to merely raising awareness and the intended audiences should lean towards those currently less engaged and interested in climate change concerns. (For example, children and young people are viewed as being more environmentally aware than most other cohorts and so are not considered a priority audience for the programme.)

Right now, we are simply looking to identify filmmakers from either conventional or fine-art film backgrounds based in any of the three counties that would be interested in making such a film project.

If this interests you, simply email creativeheartlands@gmail.com before Midnight Sunday 9th May with the following:

An outline of the basic tenet of your idea in no more than a couple of paragraphs referencing the relevant areas of the Climate Action brief (maximum one page);
A current relevant CV;
An indicative overall cost.
Collaboration will likely be a key feature of project ideas, including collaboration with other artists, communities or environmental/climate interests, and any details or ideas in this regard would also be helpful to include.

The three local authorities will then seek to develop a joint application with a selection of the expressions of interest received, and if that application is successful, we will seek to further develop and realise those ideas in partnership with the artists involved.

Regards,

Brian Kelly
creativeheartlands@gmail.com
0860838792