The inaugural Cork Film Forum was held last November the 6th.

The event was inspired by the Global Irish Economic Forum in Farmleigh in September this year. Intended as a think tank for the Irish Film industry the event drew people together from a multitude of backgrounds, from actors and directors to those in media and technology.

Representing the technology side of the audience I found the event very interesting. The event consisted of speeches from four speakers before breaking up into working groups to discuss a variety of topics. The event was compered by the witty Philip King, best known for his work in organising the annual Other Voices event in Dingle.

The event was opened by Minister Micheal Martin. His speech on the Irish Film industry is available on the Fianna Fail website. He stressed the importance of the industry and how our finest talents such as Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson etc. are still so willing to volunteer in any way to help the industry. He also noted that a key finding of the Farmleigh Forum is that our unique cultural heritage is an asset that should be explored and leveraged in coming years.

This sentiment was echoed by of UCC’s Donnacha Kavanagh. His speech centred around the economic importance of our cultural exports. He stressed that U2, Riverdance and Michael Flatley have all made contributions to the Irish economy annually similar in scale to a large company. My impression from his speech was that while as a country we are seeking to build a “Smart Economy” it is important to consider that it is uniqueness and creativity (so evident in Culture) that make a particular sector “Smart”.

George Morrison’s speech was amazing. At 87 years of age, Morrison’s speech brought together a wealth of experience and very enlightening insight. His speech which I’ve been thankfully been given a copy of from Media Desk Ireland is available here: George Morrison Speech.

George made the point that while technology has had a profound and positive effect on society, the rate of change of human development has not kept pace with the evolution of technology. In recent years the avilability of mass publication tools has brought about a decline in the standards of publications. In stating this, George defers to Wittgenstein’s statement “It is not that the proposition is untrue, only that is it meaningless.” This message really struck a chord with me. For all the good of Youtube, Twitter and Facebook you can’t but feel that you will be branded a heretic for saying that they have brought an awful lot of useless data for a small amount of meaningful information.

While cynic’s would say that some statements are typical of a technophobe yearning for the good old days, I learned after his speech that George had in the process of making a film in 2007, learned all the necessary digital production tools to make his vision a reality. With forthcoming technologies such as 3d, augmented and fully virtual reality we are destined to become further intertwined with technology. George’s call for a mature and responsible usage of technology seems very appropriate.

Edward de Bono’s presentation was fascintating. His presentation on lateral thinking and problem solving was not only an object lesson in how to present to an audience but showed real depth of understanding. When you discuss a topic so fundamental to existence as conscious though, it is very easy to to get lost in vague assertions and notions. De Bono did not. Every concept he underlied was reinforced by a practical example similar to the classic format of statement-quote-comment.

The entire presentation was done without notes and slides were drawn live on acetates by the man himself using a pack of multicolored markers. This was not a talk so much as a lesson and it was all the better for it.

Following the presentation the assembled audience was broken into working groups and asked to discuss particular topics. Dealing with technology I found the discussion incredibly engaging and I was intrigued to garner the viewpoints of those actively working in the film industry.

Overall I felt the day was a huge success. The speakers were fantastic and amongst the best I had ever witnessed. My hope is that the impressions formed by people on the day will lead to a renewed energy in the Irish Film industry and that the ideas discussed will lead to innovative and exciting developments in the sector.

I would like to thank the organisers Media Desk Ireland, the Cork Film Festival and all those that made the event so interesting.

Images: Seán Moriarty from www.corkfilmfest.org

Found the perfect calendar for 2010 by Swedish designers Jolly Good Fellow who have the idea behind this spectacularly simple but brilliant calendar explained on a specific site called urbnCal

The folks from Jolly Good Fellow walked the streets of Stockholm in Sweden, photographing old and new numbers on buildings in the city to make up the numbers of each month on the calender. Each colour of the numbers is carefully selected to mirror seasonal colours of each month which yield remarkable and interesting results.

I think we might have to do a personal calendar of Cork City to hang in our office for 2011 but for 2010 Stockholm will do just fine.

I remember taking this photograph outside Dingle, Co Kerry way back in 2002. Its was a really strange but cool thing to see two birds just sitting there on a frame shooting the breeze by the beach!

Need Gift ideas this Christmas? Look no further than Made in Mongolia, mim©. A new range of handcrafted felt products, MIM is a fair trade and not-profit initiative that allows people from Mongolia to use local resources sustainably which will hopefully provide greater self sufficiency to mongolian women and their communities.

The unique items for sale in Avoca stores nationwide and in the Ros Tapestry exhibition New Ross where I first came across MIM. Each item is hand made and unique in its Mongolian design as seen here.

The Irish Government assisted MIM with a grant of €192,000, while the Dalai Lama gave a sum of $100,000 to support the venture. Also involved is Asral NGO a group who support families and children by trying to keep families together to stop children from becoming street children and ensure they get an education. It is a fantastic project and one well worth supporting.

Models displaying the wonderful items by the MIM crafts people

The MIM crafts people at work in Mongolia

The symmetric balance of this composition strikes a strong contrast with the decay of the building itself. Urban decay can be attractive and I find it interesting to explore these old buildings. This corridor was part of an old hospital which has fallen into years of disrepair.