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FESTIVALS Ireland

The Cork Film Festival announces its award winners

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- The storied Irish film event has wrapped its 62nd edition with a screening of Downsizing

The Cork Film Festival announces its award winners
Director Frank Berry accepting his Audience Award for Michael Inside (© Jed Niezgoda/www.venividiphoto.net)

The Cork Film Festival wrapped its 62nd edition at the prestigious Everyman Theatre on Sunday 19 November. During the closing ceremony, hosted by Dave Macardle, Alexander Payne’s new science-fiction road movie Downsizing was screened and the main awards of the competition were handed out. This year’s edition was dominated by three main winners.

The Irish short film Wave, directed by Benjamin Cleary and TJ O’Grady Peyton, is now in contention for the Academy Award, after having won the Grand Prix for Best Irish Short Film. Wave focuses on the story of Gaspar Rubicon, a man who wakes up from a coma speaking a new, unrecognisable language. The protagonist of the short is played by one of the directors, TJ O’Grady Peyton. Moreover, Wave had actually already qualified for the Oscars thanks to its win at the Galway Film Fleadh back in July.

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The winner of the Grand Prix for Best International Short was Mahdi Fleifel, the director of A Drowning Man, a Greek-Danish-British co-production. The plot revolves around the Kid (Atef Alshafei), who lives alone and far from home, and must find any means possible to get through the day. This win automatically entitles A Drowning Man to join the Academy Award longlist.

The Spirit of the Festival Award went to Rima DasVillage Rockstars, an 87-minute feature about a girl from an Indian village who wants to found her own rock band in a remote north-eastern region of the country. Also worth pointing out is the Cork Film Festival Youth Jury Award, which was bestowed upon Last Men in Aleppo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Feras Fayyad.

The Cork Film Festival proved to be very successful once again this year, thanks to the support of a number of local and national partners, such as the Irish Film Institute, the Cork City Council, the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and the Irish Film Board. “This year, audiences had the opportunity to see 115 fiction features, 34 documentaries and 116 shorts. For the majority of the films shown, this was the only chance for the audience to see them on the big screen in Cork. We are hugely appreciative to all our funders, sponsors, partners, patrons, friends and industry colleagues who have ensured the success of the 62nd Cork Film Festival, and we are especially grateful to the large and loyal audiences who attended,” said Fiona Clark, CEO and festival producer.

The Cork Film Festival will be ready to host its 63rd edition in November 2018.

Here is the complete list of award winners:

Grand Prix – Irish Short Award
Wave - Benjamin Cleary and TJ O’Grady Peyton (Ireland)

Grand Prix – International Short Award
A Drowning Man - Mahdi Fleilel (Denmark/UK/Greece)

Spirit of the Festival Award
Village Rockstars - Rima Das (India)

Award for Cinematic Documentary
Untitled [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Michael Glowogger and Monika Willi (Austria)

Audience Award
Michael Inside [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
– Frank Berry (Ireland)

Best Cork Short Award
Everything Alive Is in Movement - Linda Curtin (Ireland)

Documentary Short Award
Mother & Baby - Mia Mullarkey (Ireland)

Cork Film Festival Nomination for European Short Film Awards 2018
Container - Sebastian Lang (Germany)

Cork Film Festival Youth Jury Award
Last Men in Aleppo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Feras Fayyad (Denmark/Syria)

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