The biggest media festival in the Celtic regions has opened its call for entries, after receiving a record 500 entries in 2014. The Celtic Media Festival’s Call for Entries is open from today, Monday 14th September, with film and programme makers, and digital media and radio producers, able to submit entries for the prestigious Torc Awards for Excellence online at www.celticmediafestival.co.uk.
Next year’s event takes place in Dungarvan in Co Waterford, Ireland, and, with the addition of three brand-new award categories in Comedy, Radio Comedy and Radio Magazine Show, a total of 24 Torc Awards will be presented at the 2016 Festival. Over the years the Festival has celebrated the very best in Celtic media, with BBC/Hartswood Films’ Sherlock, BBC/RTÉ/Artists Studio Ltd’s The Fall and BBC Cymru Wales’ Doctor Who just a few of the major productions to be nominated for Torc Awards for Excellence. Past winners include RTÉ One’s Love/Hate, Fiction Factory’s Y Gwyll/Hinterland and TG4/Magamedia’s Corp + Anam.
Catriona Logan, Festival Director said: “Each year the quality and quantity of productions submitted through the Call for Entries exceeds our expectations. It’s exciting to be bringing the 2016 festival to Dungarvan, a town that boasts a thriving arts scene and local media industry. I’m sure Dungarvan 2016 will be a festival to remember.”
The 37th Celtic Media Festival takes place over 20th – 22nd April 2016 and will see hundreds of delegates enjoy a packed festival programme in the Irish town. Supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Waterford City and County Council, TG4, BBC Scotland, RTÉ, MG ALBA, S4C, Northern Ireland Screen, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Cymru Wales, the festival consistently attracts international delegates wherever it is held and offers a programme that celebrates the influential media industry of the Celtic nations and regions, as well as providing networking opportunities for delegates and speakers alike.
Despite moving to a new location each year, the Celtic Media Festival maintains its unique atmosphere, one which evokes its nurturing, collaborative nature no matter where it calls home. And each year the Festival’s design concept draws on its chosen location – this year, Irish myths and legends have inspired the 2016 design, specifically the Salmon of Knowledge, thought to hold all the wisdom in the world in its flesh. The 2016 design is a nod to the world-renowned Waterford Crystal, and the lettering is evocative of traditional Celtic calligraphy found in tomes such as the Book of Kells.
Full information on the Call for Entries and award categories, plus the first look at the 2016 design, are available at www.celticmediafestival.co.uk
The Celtic Media Festival 2016 will take place in Dungarvan in County Waterford, Ireland, from 20th – 22nd April 2016. The festival has been held in Ireland 9 times previously.
Showcasing the best work from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Cornwall, Brittany and Galicia, the festival is expected to attract some of the biggest names in the media world to the town. Previous high-profile guests include Tilda Swinton, Rhys Ifans, Peter Mullan, Ken Loach, The Killing Director Birger Larsen, My Mad Fat Diary writer/showrunner Tom Bidwell, and Doctor Who and Torchwood producer Russell T Davies. Although the festival is primarily for industry delegates, there will be a wider programme of events. Full details of the festival programme, delegate registration, and how to purchase tickets, will be announced early next year.
The above content is a press release from the Celtic Media Festival