Made as part of their year-long project module in 3rd year, the students underwent the challenging process of developing and preparing to shoot the film remotely during the Covid 19 pandemic, working together entirely online to fundraise and source locations, actors, props, etc. before returning to campus in April 2021 to shoot and edit the short film under strict Covid 19 production guidelines.

The main crew behind the film are David Kivlehan, Natalia Pryczkowska, James Judge, Eoghan Johnston, Kate Smyth and Kris Tarvids.

The film has already won awards such as Best Student Cinematography at the Los Angeles Cinematography Awards, Best Student Filmmaker at the Istanbul Film Festival, Best Sci-fi Film by London Shorts and has been screened at festivals around the world including:

• Cinemagic Young Filmmaker 2021
• Spook Screen Cork
• Brooklyn Sci-Fi Film Festival.
• Lift-Off Online Sessions in association with Pinewood Studios
• Varese International Film Festival in Italy
• The Paus Premieres Festival
• Istanbul International Film Festival
• Hannover International Film Festival

Three other shorts from DkIT were also selected for screening at the event including 'High Society' (Niamh Magee, Liam Delahunt, Celine McInerney, James Hickey, Andrius Rutavicius and Conor Lewis) and 'The Fault in Our Cult' (Cedric Stohr, Liam Donohue, Cathal Nash, Mark Connor, Grace Boyd and Dearbhla Martin), also produced by the students last year as part of their year-long project module in 3rd year and 'Topple', an animation by Niamh McGivney and Cathy Simms.

20 students from Dundalk IT travelled to the event which took place on Feb 24th in the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin to watch their films and films/animations from colleges all across the country being screened, along with partaking in interviews with US editor Joi McMillon and US filmmaker Adam McKay.

Huge congratulations to all the students whose films were selected for screening and especially the crew and cast of 'Martians from the Planet Jupiter'.

To find out more about the BA (Hons) in Film & Television Production and how you can apply, contact Programme Director Kevin Cunnane on Kevin.Cunnane@dkit.ie