Busy red carpet in Schull for Fastnet Film Fest

SCHULL’S Fastnet Film Festival could soon almost rival Cannes for the number of stars gracing the red carpet.

In addition to the stars already announced, it has just been confirmed that actor Joe Alwyn –Taylor Swift’s boyfriend – will be in town for this year’s Fastnet Film Festival.

Star spotters are holding out hope that the multi-Grammy-winning singer will put in an appearance during the five-day festival from Wednesday May 25th to Sunday May 29th.

Joe will, of course, be accompanied by his Conversations with Friends co-star Alison Oliver, who is from Cork.

The organisers of the festival have whetted the appetite of their audience by slowly releasing the names of this year’s stars, producers and directors.

Initially, they confirmed that the producer, director and writer Lenny Abrahamson – who received huge acclaim for his telling of the Sally Rooney novel Normal People – would be in attendance.

Lenny Abrahamson will be conducting a film directing seminar on Friday morning, followed by a talk on the making of Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends that afternoon.

Then it was announced that Ciarán Hinds, fresh from his successful role in Kin, would be giving a Q&A session after the screening of his latest film, The Man in the Hat.

The multi-award winning actor Stephen Rae – of The Crying Game fame – is to be a special focus of the festival. Three of his movies will be shown but it is his acting master class that has young thespians flocking to Schull.

At the festival launch, there was another surprise announcement when it was confirmed that Paul Mescal – who made his name in Normal People – will be conducting a Q&A session with Lenny Abrahamson on Saturday evening.

The festival’s success rests– not just on its appeal for film buffs – but also those who want to learn the trade. They are queuing up to meet the award-winning script writers, editors and sound engineers who will be sharing their knowledge at sessions and workshops over the five-day festival.

No Fastnet Film Festival would be complete without the Oscar-winning composer Stephen Warbeck, and West Cork’s own Oscar-winning producer David Puttnam.