Kelly has written and will direct The Drummer And The Goalkeeper, a story “about finding true friendship in the craziest of places.” Previously Academy Award long-listed for his Shoe short, he’s teaming up on his feature-length debut with producer Kate McColgan. The other newly announced recipients are Aoife McCardle and Andrew Freeman’s Kissing Candice, which focuses on “a lonely, imaginative teenage girl growing up in a stifling community” and Garret Shanley, Lorcan Finnegan and Brunella Cocchiglia’s Without Name, which “follows a systematic land surveyor who loses his reason in a supernatural environment that defies all boundaries.”
Commenting on the successful project, IFB Chief Executive James Hickey says: “ Catalyst Project is an important part of the IFB programme for the continued development of Irish creative talent in film. What has been very positive about the initiative is that in the 88 applications we received, a great reservoir of talent came forward. In the end, whilst only three projects could be selected, the strength and depth of Irish creative talent demonstrated through the Catalyst Project bodes well for the future. I wish to congratulate the winning teams who have made it through an incredibly competitive process and we are looking forward to working with them over the next year.”