Silent moves goes on tour

SILENT Moves - a film by Aideen Barry and the artists of Western Care’s Ridgepool Training Centre and Scannán Technologies, and presented by Ballina Arts Centre - is going on tour.

The short movie can be seen in Galway's Town Hall Theatre on October 20 at 2.30 and 8 p.m., in the Irish Film Institute, Dublin, on November 4 at 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m., at the Cork Film Festival (in Triskel Arts Centre) on November 14 at 2 and 6.30 p.m., and back in its home county at Mayo Movie World, Castlebar, on November 26 at 8 p.m.

Hosted by Ballina Arts Centre, Silent Moves was made over an eight-month period in and around Ballina. Inspired by the classic black and white silent films of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harrold Lloyd, Silent Moves was created using stop-motion animation and slapstick, with a strong emphasis on movement and mime. It was facilitated by Irish dance artist and choreographer Emma O’Kane.

The collective talents of the 30 group members, with the lead artists, created a wonderful, moving and hilarious film which was launched in November 2014 by Emily Logan, chief commissioner, Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission, at Ballina Arts Centre in front of a huge audience.

The project was made possible through an award to Ballina Arts Centre, which hosted and managed the Mayo IGNITE project. IGNITE is a new platform designed to generate Ireland’s most ambitious showcasing of talent from people with disabilities, led by international and Irish artists and performers with disabilities.

For the tour, evening screenings of the film will be accompanied by live performance of the soundtrack on piano, violin, viola and percussion by musical director Cathal Murphy and musicians Ger Madden, Yvette Gorham and Denise Moorcroft.

A ‘meet the makers’ style session will be hosted in each location featuring some of the participating artists from the project alongside representatives from Ballina Arts Centre and Mayo County Council's arts office. Each screening will be fully accessible, with audio description, hearing loops, etc., and Irish sign language interpretation will be provided for the meet the makers sessions.

“The film is a magical piece of work and it certainly deserves to be seen around the country. I’m thrilled for the makers of the film, and the way the tour is set up,” said Sean Walsh, director, Ballina Arts Centre.

You can watch a small clip of the Silent Moves launch below.