Press Release: Film Competition Reveals Students' Attitudes to Alcohol Consumption - 07/10/09

Students' changing attitudes to alcohol consumption are being captured by amateur film-makers thanks to the annual DARE2BDRINKAWARE film competition. That's according to Fionnuala Sheehan, Chief Executive of drinkaware.ie.

Now in its third year, DARE2BDRINKAWARE is a competition open to third-level students throughout Ireland. It is sponsored by drinkaware.ie and organised by the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA).

Speaking at the launch of the 2009 / 2010 competition today (07.10.09), Fionnuala Sheehan said that the DARE2BDRINKAWARE entries in the past two years have given interesting insights into students' perceptions of Ireland’s drinking culture.

''People mistakenly assume that all students see getting drunk as a cool thing to do and that younger people are unaware of the risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption,'' she said. ''However, the film entries received in the DARE2BDRINKAWARE competition in the last two years show that students actually have very strong opinions on the negative effects of drinking, and are much more aware of the risks associated with drunkenness than they are often given credit for.

''Last year, the shortlisted films in the competition tackled hard-hitting issues such as homelessness, alcoholism and drink driving, as well as the more common side-effects of excessive alcohol consumption such as memory loss, blackouts, illness and conflict with family and friends. The film-makers were not afraid to portray the grim underside of Ireland's drinking culture, and they skilfully depicted the sometimes embarrassing and even dangerous situations that students can find themselves in when they drink too much.''

A prize fund of €5,000 is up for grabs by the student film-makers that enter the DARE2BDRINKAWARE competition this year. The competition asks aspiring film-makers and young people interested in social issues to produce a short film exploring the relationship between Irish culture and drinking. Entries must be made specifically for DARE2BDRINKAWARE, and must be produced entirely by third-level students over 18 years. Winning entries are chosen for their creativity, and for the insight they offer into students' attitudes to drink.

John Hurley, Director of Learning at The Digital Hub, said one of the big benefits for students who enter the competition is the opportunity to meet some of Ireland's top film industry insiders and make contacts that may prove valuable to them in their future careers.

''Last year, the acclaimed director Lenny Abrahamson was the guest speaker at the DARE2BDRINKAWARE Awards Ceremony, and the judging panel for the competition included broadcaster John Kelly alongside representatives of the Irish Film and Television Academy and the Irish Film Institute.

''The overall winning film last year was screened at the Oxegen music festival, the Cinemagic film festival, was broadcast recently on City Channel, and will be shown on RTÉ 2 in early November. So the exposure that students can gain from entering DARE2BDRINKAWARE is really quite significant. This is a fantastic opportunity for up-and-coming film-makers to meet key industry figures and establish a name for themselves at an early age.''

Students now have six weeks to come up with film ideas for DARE2BDRINKAWARE: the deadline for receipt of proposals is Friday, 20th November 2009. Teams that have submitted successful proposals will then have until 6th April 2010 to produce and submit their short films.

DARE2BDRINKAWARE will culminate in a screening and awards ceremony in late April 2010.

Further information and full guidelines for the competition are available at www.DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie.

ENDS

Contact: Dermot Ryan or Lydia Ishak, DHR Communications, Tel: 01-4885808, 086-6002306 or 086-3868615

Notes:

drinkaware.ie
drinkaware.ie is a MEAS initiative. MEAS (Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society Limited), a registered charity, was established in 2002 by the principal companies and trade organisations in the drinks industry to promote social responsibility within the industry and moderate consumption by those who choose to drink, in order to reduce alcohol abuse and related harm. MEAS is committed to continuing and expanding its responsible drinking campaigns throughout 2008 and beyond.

Since its launch in November 2006, the drinkaware.ie website has emerged as the leading information portal for consumers on all aspects of alcohol and drinking. The ‘Had Enough’ campaign follows on from the successful ‘know the one that’s one too many’ campaign, and is a key part of MEAS’ long-term commitment to promoting the responsible consumption of alcohol in Ireland.

MEAS has published a number of drinkaware.ie guides, including the essential ‘Festival Survival Guide’, ‘Alcohol, Sport & You’ and the, ‘No Nonsense guide for students’. All guides are available free for download from www.drinkaware.ie, alternatively printed booklets can be requested by phone on 01 6114811 or by emailing info@drinkaware.ie.

www.drinkaware.ie

The Digital Hub
The Digital Hub is an Irish Government initiative to create an international centre of excellence for knowledge, innovation and creativity focused on digital content and technology enterprises. The core development of nine acres is located a 10-minute walk from the city centre within the historic Liberties area of Ireland’s capital city, Dublin. Over the next decade, this initiative will create a mixed-use development, consisting of enterprise, residential, retail, learning and civic space. The project is managed by an Irish government agency, the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA). There are now over 100 companies and 600 people employed in The Digital Hub.

Although essentially an enterprise project, The Digital Hub also has an urban regeneration remit. As part of this remit, The Digital Hub delivers a number of learning projects through local schools and local community organisations. A recent independent evaluation into The Digital Hub's learning programmes found that 46% of participants in community learning projects expect to go on and seek employment in the digital media sector and 44% intend going on to further education.

www.thedigitalhub.com