Mayo producer enjoys international success with debut short film

A MAYO producer is enjoying success with his debut short film at Irish and international film festivals.

Aaron Chalke, from Ballintubber, has seen recent selection success with his short horror film Shadowban.

Written and directed by his creative partner Shane W. Brennan (whose family are Mayo natives), the short film has been widely praised and amassed multiple selections and awards in festivals in Ireland, the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Ukraine and China. Recently, Shadowban has been selected as one of 16 Irish short films to compete in the prestigious Light and Motion Competition as part of the Foyle Film Festival, which is Oscar-affiliated, as well as BAFTA and IFTA recognised.

The film was a passion project that was self-funded by his company Foe and was shot in Stradbally, Co. Laois, in the winter of 2021.

Both Aaron and Shane have been working in advertising and production for over a decade with some of the biggest brands in Ireland. However, Shadowban is their first step out into non-commercial fiction production.

Shadowban is a short horror film that stars TikTok star and Kilkenny native Fiona Bergin and uses modern themes inspired by traditional storytelling and folklore. It explores how we use and rely on technology in our world to interact with each other and poses the question as to what we are losing with these advancements all set against the backdrop of and dark country road on Halloween.

Aaron is delighted to be able to showcase this project to the world, and hopes that the momentum will continue into future projects which he can bring to Mayo in years to come.

You can watch the trailer here: https://www.shadowbanfilm.com/.