THE FESTIVAL
What is the WAFF?The Wee Adventure Film Festival (WAFF) is a celebration of adventure sport. It was set up in 2007 by John Connolly and a dedicated team of volunteers. The first festival ran in 2008. Since then the festival has taken place in February 2009, 2010 and 2011. WAFF 2012 is currently being organised. The festival screens short adventure films up to ten minutes in length.
"The inspiration for the Wee Adventure Film Festival came from seeing the Banff Mountain Film Festival over numerous few years. I thought it was great. I started to think that it would be good fun to get a few friends together and to go out and make our own adventure sport videos and then to show the films at some sort of gathering at the end of the summer. When I told people about the idea of the gathering to screen their own adventure films, there was a lot of interest. The more people I told the more interest there was, so I decided why not have a film festival instead, and so the Wee Adventure Film Festival was born"
- John Connolly, Festival Director
The festival was set up to bring people together in one place to be thrilled and inspired by exhilarating adventure films.
Where does it happen?
The Wee Adventure Film Festival takes place in Dublin every February (although for 2012 the WAFF is moving to the end of March). In 2008, John brought it to Cape Town in South Africa where the profits from the event were donated to a local charity; IkamvaYouth. In August 2010, the WAFF teamed up with the Westport "Get Out There" Adventure Festival with an offering of the best films from three years of the WAFF.
Who can enter?
Anybody can enter a film to the Wee Adventure Film Festival. All entries are viewed and provided the film is well made and edited, it may be screened. One of the aims of the festival is to allow amateur film makers to get their film screened in front of a live audience. Over the last four years we have received films all over the World, including; Northern Ireland, Canada, USA, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Australia, Norway, Indonesia, France and Spain.
WAFF film entries from around the World
How many people attend the festival?
In 2008, over 300 people attended the first event. In both 2009 and 2010 about 250 people attended.
What is the future for WAFF?
Currently the festival runs one or two events a year. The WAFF team would like to see the festival being screened in Cork, Killarney, Galway and Belfast. The format of the WAFF (15/16 short adventure films) has potential in the online forum and concepts have been discussed. The WAFF team is interested in exploring the concept of an online competition, this would increase awareness of the festival, leading up to the festival event in Dublin.
Who runs WAFF?
The festival is run not-for-profit by a dedicated and passionate team of volunteers. The team in 2011/2012 includes; John Connolly (festival director), Ruth McKenna, Sarah Steer, Catherine Lennon and Gerald Monks. Previous volunteers include; Gillesa O'Shea, Ruth and James Stockdale, Mary Connolly and Sarah Marsh.
The Wee Adventure Film Festival offers adventurers the opportunity to come together and show their adventure films. We hope that your films will capture the essence of adventure sports: the rush, the exhilaration, the outdoors and the fun.
HISTORY OF THE WAFF
In 2007, the Wee Adventure Film Festival was established by outdoors enthusiast John Connolly. Inspired by the atmosphere and excitement of major touring international adventure film festivals, he decided to make a short film of his own, and encouraged his adventure loving friends to do the same, so that they could all share their adventures one evening in his home.News of John's idea spread fast amongst the Irish and international outdoor adventure community, and the small get together for a showing of films and slideshows that John had envisaged quickly snowballed. It soon became clear that there was no way the event was going to fit in John's living room, and that a bigger venue was needed.
And so the Wee Adventure Film Festival was born. On 6th February 2008 the festival took place in the Sugar Club on Leeson Street, attracting a crowd of hundreds keen to see the 20 films created by amateur and professional filmmakers and adventurers from all over the world.
The Festival was so well received that John decided to make it an annual event, aiming to create a festival where anyone can come along and be entertained and inspired by the tales of adrenaline fuelled adventure shared on screen.The WAFF was successfully held in the Sugar Club in 2009, 2010 and 2011, with John at the helm, and supported by a small team of friends, not least his wife Ruth McKenna in recent years. In total, over fifty films from 14 countries have been shown.
The WAFF has also gone on tour, appearing in 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa where the profits from the event were donated to a local charity IkamvaYouth. In August 2010, the WAFF teamed up with the Westport "Get Out There" Adventure Festival and presented a special showing of the best films from three years of the WAFF.
The event has grown in popularity every year, and so for 2012, the fifth year of the Festival, the WAFF is moving to its new home of Vicar Street on the 30th March. This is a new departure for the Festival that will enable it to grow even more. The team of volunteers behind the WAFF are working hard to ensure WAFF 2012 will be the most successful yet, and are looking forward to seeing you there on the night!