STAFF and pupils of Cappabue National School are celebrating after winning an international award at the Prague Teenfilmfest just before Christmas.
The film festival showcased films made by young people from around the world and the Czech Republic aged 8-21 years.
The school was the winner of the best documentary section for eight to 12-year-olds.
Their entry, A Blast From The Past, featured parents and grandparents recounting their childhood experiences, while pupils recreated these stories through their own drawings and pictures. The movie was subtitled in Czech. A Blast From The Past had previously won the 2019 Radharc Award for best documentary at Ireland’s Young Filmmaker Awards held in Limerick.
Here, the judges praised the film for ‘engaging stories of adult memory and nostalgia illustrated with creative drawings by young students.’
This film is the latest in a long line of movie productions from the school which have won multiple awards both nationally and internationally.
Norma Healy, principal of Cappabue NS, commended the parents, grandparents, staff and friends of the school for their input, encouragement and support in bringing this latest production to fruition. She thanked particularly Victor Hayes from Bantry and Dunmanway School Completion Programme for his role in mentoring and inspiring the pupils in the school.
The film captures, in a unique and authentic way, the life experiences of past generations, portraying moments of sentimentality, poignancy and hilarity in equal measures. She added that filmmaking brings learning to life as it embraces so many elements of the learning process engaged in on a daily basis in the school.
Not ones to rest on their laurels, the next production from Cappabue NS is already well under way.
Pupils are very excited as their first original music video is currently in the pipeline.
