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Screenings
2008
European MEDIA4ME Conference, The Hague
Waterford African Film Festival
Carlow African Film Festival
2007
Trinity Immigration Initiative Conference
Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Film Festival, Dublin (winner, Best Irish Short Film)
In October, The Memory Box and Team Spirit will be included in screenings for primary schools in the Irish Film Institute's Education Programme.
Distribution
Combined with a teaching pack written by practicing teachers, The Memory Box has been used as an educational resource, disseminated to primary schools throughout Ireland.
Supported by
Bord Scannán na hEireann (Irish Film Board)
Credits
Directed by: Siobhán Twomey
Produced by: Áine O’Brien and Alan Grossman
Written by: Liz Morris and Siobhán Twomey
Designs by: Siobhán Twomey
Character Animation by: Ciara McClean
Cast: Abbi: Oyin Animashaun Lucy: Lauren Murphy Lillian: Yemi Adenuga Kunle: Kunle Animashaun Miss Maloney: Rebecca Harte
Voice Recording and Direction by: Bisi Adigun
Sound Post Production by: Owen Tighe
Online Editor: Scott Smith
Dubbing Mix: Cillian Fiztgerald
‘Funky Stuff’ composed by Christopher Bangs published by Atmosphere Music Ltd.
Cosultants: Jacqueline Healy, Chinedu Onyejelem, Benedicta Attoh and Denise Charlton
Special Thanks to: Aodán Ó Coileáin, Delphine O’Keeffe, Ruth Evans, Sancha Magat, Barbara O’Toole, Orla Walsh, Alison Gililand, Niamh McGuirk, Ailish McShane, Colin Lawlor, Mark Byrne, Maeve Burke, Veronica Doran, Mark Nolan, Siobhán Armstrong at Lotus Films
Abbi's Circle - The Memory Box
Documentary and animation combine in this award winning 'documation' about migrant family life in Ireland. Developed in collaboration with our NGO partners and drawing from their case studies, Abbi’s Circle is a series of three animated short films on the topic of immigration in Ireland with a particular focus on Family Reunification.
Aimed at 10 -13 year olds, their parents and teachers, each film has an accompanying Teaching Pack that has been written for 5th and 6th class. The packs focus on the primary curriculum, offering suggestions for use in SPHE, History, Geography, Visual Arts, Mathematics and more.
The 'Memory Box' was produced in collaboration with our NGO partner, the Immigrant Council of Ireland, and the story begins when Abbi, a young Nigerian girl living in Dublin, asks her father to visit her for the graduation ceremony that will mark her transition from primary school to secondary school. But Kunle, who has remained in Nigeria, is refused a visa so he cannot visit. In the end, Abbi sends him the memory box she made at school. Following the adventures of Abbi and her circle of friends, we experience the obstacles facing migrants wanting to be reunited in Ireland with their family members who are still living abroad.
Please sample the animated trailers, the teaching packs, and observe the collaborative production process behind the making of this animation series in ‘Team Building: The Making of Team Spirit'.
The 'Memory Box' has been screened in a number of national and international film festivals, winning the award for Best Irish Short in the audience selection of ‘The Stranger than Fiction’ documentary film festival (Dublin, 2007). In addition, the accompanying Teaching Resource Pack takes the film beyond conventional exhibition centres and into classrooms and teacher training colleges across Ireland.
Abbi’s Circle is part- funded by the Irish Film Board.
Click 'More Info' for further details on this project.