KERRY County Council has made two new appointments in both writing and filmmaking.
Ciara Hyland from Cork is the new Filmmaker in Residence while Máire Holmes, who lives in Galway, is the new Writer in Residence.
Ciara Hyland is a documentary director behind the documentary ‘Diarmuid Lynch – The Forgotten Volunteer’ about the incredible life of the last man out of the GPO for TG4. She also produces and directs documentary segments for Nationwide on RTE and for Duiche on TG4.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be the new Filmmaker in Residence,” said Ciara. “I’m thrilled to have been given this opportunity and am so looking forward to working with the people of Kerry.”
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Ciara plans on using the Residency to develop Kerry Storyscene – a digital storytelling project that opens up and gives access to the community to make their own short documentaries exploring the theme of Kerry 1916 – 2016. Possibilities for this theme include exploring history – personal or family, the Kerry landscape and heritage or even some personal opinions or poetic musings!
“Digital Storytelling has a long history of opening up documentary making to the general public – removing barriers, giving people a voice and democratizing the documentary making process. It’s a viewpoint that is very close to my heart,” says Ciara. “Everybody has something interesting to say and everybody should have the opportunity to create and shape their own stories in their own way.”
Ciara will facilitate a series of workshops around Kerry where people will learn how to put music, pictures and voiceover together to create short powerful documentaries.
Máire Holmes is the newly appointed Kerry County Council Writer in Residence. She has a lifetime’s experience in literature, writing many poetry books and plays. She has been writer in residence in Mayo, Connemara and the Aran Islands, and most recently in Kerry in 2015.
Máire’s plan for the residency is to make a one hour radio programme Kerry 1916 – 2016: From Wireless to WiFi based on writings produced by the people of Kerry during the residency. For the project Máire will work with people of all ages to cover a wide range of themes: historical, emotional, aesthetical, sporting, creative and spiritual.
“The purpose of creative writing is communication and more so, fulfilment,” says Máire, “and a radio programme can share that which springs from the heart of the writer with the heart of the listener.”
Máire will speak more about the project at Killarney Library on Culture Night, Friday, September 16 at 6pm.