"The beauty of filmmaking is that everyone has a voice": Ireland’s only film festival celebrating young women in film takes place this week.

The HER International Film Festival (HERIFF), Ireland's only film festival showcasing young female filmmakers, is taking place this week from October 25th - 31st.

HERIFF seeks to provide a platform, a network and a support system to young women and women-aligned people in film across the world. Through their festival, young women and women-aligned people can connect with each other, find opportunities in a male-dominated industry, and be empowered to embark on a career in film.

The festival programme includes 118 feature films, short films, feature-length and short-form documentaries, animations, music videos, scripts, screenplays and student films from 52 countries, along with workshops from animators, directors and panel discussions.

Virtual events have been running all week and are accessible to watch back, while in-person events will run from October 29th - 31st at St Mary’s Church of Ireland, Kenmare Place. Click here for the full schedule of events, and to purchase tickets.

Now running for its second year, the BAFTA Recognised festival was founded in January 2020 by filmmaker Ólámídé Ojegbenro in association with Killarney Young Filmmakers. A student at IADT, he was inspired by a conversation with his mentor Laura Gaynor, a freelancer with BBC and RTÉ.

"We were talking about how women were supported in the industry, and the idea of a film festival struck me because we both believe that the best way to address the lack of diversity in the film industry is to start from the ground up, which is a film festival," Ojegbenro explained.

"Maybe creating a film festival highlighting young women in film, television, and animation can encourage or motivate young girls/women to take up a camera and visually communicate their narrative."

Based in Kerry, the HERIFF creative and decision-making team is made up of young people aged 24 and below. For 20 year old Head of Jury Aisha Bojali, this was daunting at first.

"When I took on being head of jury my initial thought was "oh my god am I even qualified to do this?!" she said.

"I was 19 at the time when it first started so to be this 19 year old girl who was head of jury for a BAFTA recognised film festival felt very surreal. There were people who, because I was still a teenage girl at the time, wanted to diminish my views, opinions and hard work because of my age and my gender.

"As a whole a lot of people struggle to see young women as people who should be taken seriously, whose art and passions should be respected. So I think any chance we have to create spaces and opportunities that challenge that viewpoint we should take it."

No fear of Aisha being 'unqualifed' for her role at HERIFF - as well as being a visual artist and filmmaker, she has also founded the Gal Pal Collective, an organisation dedicated to the celebration, creation and support of art by young queer folk, women, and people of colour.

"I love seeing what other young women are making, it's beyond inspiring to see their creativity and their talents. Film can feel like such a boys club, it can feel isolating as a woman starting off in the film industry so for me HER International Film Festival was a chance to show young women in film that they had this community that fully supported, encouraged and celebrated them," she explained.

For Ojegbenro, creating a platform such as HERIFF to showcase the work of young female and female presenting filmmakers, animators, directors and writers is "critical to achieving gender balance in the film industry"

"My team and I focused on the next generation of female filmmakers to give them a voice that their works cherish and loved by festivals like ours. My aim for the festival is that it would urge industry gatekeepers to retain an open mind and recognize the efforts of those who put their blood and sweat into their job.

"People should be able to tell their stories regardless of gender, colour, religion, or sex. The beauty of filmmaking is that everyone has a voice to tell their narrative."

The HER International Film Festival is taking place from October 25th - 31st. Visit herintlfilmfestival.com for more information.