Finding your story (and committing to it) is at the heart of every filmmaker’s journey to the screen. What is it that convinces filmmakers that this is the story they need to tell?
Creative Futures Academy (CFA) is excited to host this special panel discussion with Rory Hanrahan, filmmaker & lecturer at NCAD, Dublin, exploring the search for stories with personal perspectives from animators & narrative filmmakers. Join us on Saturday 12 July at 2pm at the Galmont Hotel, Galway.
GUEST SPEAKERS:
Esosa Ighodaro (Writer, Director and Vocalist)
Olivia McLaughlin (Writer, Director and Producer)
Caleb J. Roberts (Screenwriter and Director)
Giovanna Ferrarri (Director and Head of Story)
Josh O’Caoimh (Animation Filmmaker)
Esosa Ighodaro is a British/Nigerian/Irish writer, director, and vocalist who creates work for screen and stage. Her work aims to present varied stories of Black experiences in Ireland. Her work has been screened and awarded in international festivals. She is currently developing new projects for TV, Film and Theatre. Esosa is also a Resident artist at Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun, Associate artist at the Civic Theatre and Project Lead of the Baptiste Programme at Smock Alley. Her latest short film, “Dance Like Someone’s Watching” premieres at Galway Film Fleadh 2025.
Caleb J. Roberts is a queer-trans screenwriter and director from Belfast. His work has been screened and awarded at numerous international film festivals and received broadcast distribution on Channel 4 with Film4. Caleb’s work focuses on masculinity, queerness, class, and place/lessness through the trans lens. His short film “Purebred” is a vulnerable narrative, a story that goes beyond the idea of labels and cements itself in a realistic, raw space, looking at working-class masculinity & queer masculinity, without rose-tinted glasses.
Olivia McLaughlin is a Writer/Director and Producer based in Kildare. In 2022, Olivia was a Virgin Media Discovers Top 10 Finalist for a screenplay she developed and co-wrote. Her recent directing projects include ‘The Rollover,’ for which she took home the GALPAL Collective ‘Directed by Her’ Music Video Audience Award in March 2025. Her debut short film “Parting” premiers at the Fleadh, and tells the story of two sisters - one who departs for Australia, while the other confronts the unspoken weight of staying behind.
Giovanna has worked on several feature films across Europe as both a storyboard artist and animator. She has worked with Cartoon Saloon on a number of projects, including “Song of The Sea”, “The Breadwinner”, “Wolfwalkers”, and the Star Wars: Visions episode “Screecher’s Reach”. She was head of story and animation director on “My Father’s Dragon”, directed by Nora Twomey. She is currently working as the head of story on a feature film in development in the studio. She is presenting her short film “Éiru” at the Fleadh, the movie tells the story of a child in search of truth for her Iron Age Clan.
Josh O'Caoimh is an Irish animation filmmaker. His work blends traditional and digital media to craft vibrant and distinctive animated worlds. His previous film received a world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, qualified for the 2023 Academy Awards, and won an IFTA. Premiering at the Galway Film Fleadh 2025, “Is That All There Is?” is an animated music video created to accompany Mary Coughlan’s haunting rendition of the song. The film captures its subjects in quiet moments of introspection, exploring themes of despair, loneliness, and the search for meaning.
