[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith no shortage of talent or enthusiasm, much to champion and even more to support in progressing and improving, this summer in Ireland countless festivals have showcased what we are doing in the arts, how we are doing it and why we might be doing it in a specific way. Festivals and gatherings are key in recognising and promoting the work of artists and in encouraging the continued pursuit and development of creative expression on this island.

The shape our festivals take is important not only in acknowledging what has been achieved in the arts but in influencing where we will take them next and how we will do it. In this way they serve a dual purpose in the country’s artistic life. This is why they must be outward looking, both to give Irish art its due on an international stage but also to expose us to what’s being done elsewhere.Both the International Literature Festival and the International Gay Theatre Festival are examples celebrating Irish arts as they should be celebrated, and the key to this, in a word common to both, is by being international. The two festivals showcased Irish art by promoting engagement with the artistic idioms of other countries, something that’s of benefit to all involved.

This month the city looks to film and its place in the cultural life and development of the city, with Dublin’s third International Kino Kabaret taking place from 12th to 19th July. Kino varies from other cultural gatherings in several ways. First of all, the art being celebrated is produced over the course of the week, rather than it being a coming together to see what’s already been done. The lines are also blurred between artist and audience, between those being celebrated and those celebrating, with many of many of the attendees filling both roles.

The organisers behind the weeklong filmmaking event are Kino D, the Dublin branch of Kino, an international movement of amateur filmmakers who shoot and produce short films at events known as kabarets. The Dublin cell currently hold bimonthly kabarets at the Fumbally Exchange on Dame Lane. Starting in July 2013, Kino in Dublin is currently run by Stephen Murphy, Sharon Crowley, Andrew Holohan and Greg Fitzpatrick. The four have equal say in the group’s running and it’s under them that the kabarets have become a regular bimonthly fixture. Stephen originally got involved to get a foothold in filmmaking: “What do people get out of Kino? It’s different for different people. For me it was my first step into filmmaking, I’d never made a film before I did a kabaret. I was in the kabaret in Poland last September. Twelve months before that the idea of making a film in Poland was crazy. Eighteen months before that the idea of making a film at all was crazy.”

It costs €15 to register to take part in the weekend long kabaret. Participants arrive at the Fumbally Exchange on the Saturday morning and pitch their ideas for short films of a maximum length of six minutes, though this criterion is often ignored. They outline who and what they need, whether it be a location, an editor, actors, lights, sound or a director of photography. Facilitated by the Kino D team, the crews are organised and then for the rest of the weekend, until the screenings Sunday night at 8pm, they make their films. Kino is what the participants make of it. The team are based in the Fumbally Exchange all weekend but Murphy says that the team are merely there to facilitate: “We mostly rely on people bringing their own equipment. The team here has some bits and bobs. We stay [at the Fumbally Exchange] overnight but we’re just facilitators. We don’t necessarily do anything for the people. We give them the access to other people. For example, somebody could show up here at 11 o’clock at night saying I’ve shot my film but I don’t have an editor. Is anybody here an editor? People show up at the space and might need a lens or an actor. If it was a case of just meeting up and then coming to the screening with your film, if you needed something in the interim you’d have very few recourses.”

As a writer-director, Murphy believes that guerrilla filmmaking, the nature of a lot of Kino filmmaking, is how Dublin has to go: “For me, that’s what it’s about along with the international aspect. For Irish film to get better, and it needs to get better, it needs to embrace Europe, in particular, and get that [international] perspective. Irish cinema is very insular. People like to do something on their own. They start a fundraiser, make the film, go to a festival and then that’s it. Whereas what we’re trying to do is make a community where we say ‘Alright, let’s make your film. Let’s all do that and then next time we’ll make my film and we’ll keep doing that and get better.’”

It’s only very recently that the group has started to get in contact with other Kinos around the world. Before that says Murphy, it was all very loose. Given the independent and guerrilla nature of how Kinos work this isn’t surprising. But Murphy believes there needs to be more of a focus on the international scene if Irish filmmaking is to grow and improve: “Montreal was the original kabaret, Kino 00 they’re called, and we had two guys from there last year come to ours [International Kabaret] and the quality of their films is ridiculous. The quality of their short films is better than the quality of most Irish feature films. They’re remarkable.”

Murphy makes the point that, unlike other media, filmmaking is not something you can usually practise on your own or at a low cost. Whereas writers, painters and even theatre-makers can practise and experiment for free, filmmaking requires a certain amount of equipment and opportunity. Kino makes low budget practise doable: “It’s a practise thing. Writers and directors in Ireland don’t get a huge amount of practise in filmmaking compared to crews and actors because crews and actors get work on all the international stuff that comes over. Whereas the writer-director side doesn’t get that. And there’s no real funding for upstarts though there’s a lot of funding for stuff that’s already established. So we’re trying to create an environment where people can be creative and practise that way. Kino is a great way to experiment.”

If Kino D is looking at the international scene for inspiration and for the future, the other point of focus is community-building, and not just one of filmmakers: “Bordeaux, for example, and Montreal, they have this base of an audience in their city and they’re a very significant part of the film culture. People who are not filmmakers come to their events and we would like to reach that point. At the moment we’re doing screenings in bars, which is cool for people who are wandering by and are curious but we’d like to reach a point where we have a steadier place where we can screen. We want to become a more significant part of the film culture in Dublin and that people will be interested in coming to our events not because they know participants or because they’re interested in guerrilla filmmaking but because they want to see what’s being made.”

Kino’s International Kabaret, and the movement in general, democratises filmmaking in a way that puts it on an equal footing with the other arts. It allows the individual to pick up a camera in a way they can a pen or a brush and create for themselves. By broadening the net of who can makes films in Ireland today, Kino D is also pushing the limits of what kind of films can be made. Guerrilla filmmaking requires cooperation part of Kino’s ethos is the idea of collaboration for mutual benefit. A filmmaking culture with a base in constant and accessible production would bring an energy to Irish cinema through both the nurturing of new talent and the liberation of the medium from the logistical constraints of making a movie on your own.

Like the other international festivals this summer, the International Kabaret is a chance to both show off and grow the talent we already have by interacting with filmmakers from other parts of the world. Kino D, by bringing people together not just within Dublin but from the world over, are working towards not only making a community in Dublin but making Dublin part of an international community.

Registrations for Kino D’s 3rd International Kabaret, which runs from 12th – 19th July, are now open. More information here.