Leticia Agudo, Paul McGrath and Aoibheann O’Sullivan, the filmmakers behind the short documentary 'Forty Foot' have just returned from the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto having picked up two prizes. The film, made in five days as part of the International Documentary Challenge, won the top award Best Film and was also awarded Best Use of Historical Genre.

In March 2009, 142 filmmakers from 15 different countries entered a competition to make a short non-fiction film in five days only. They were assigned a theme and a choice of two genres on the morning of the first day. In the end, only 116 completed the challenge and 13 were chosen as finalists. Their films premiered at the prestigious Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, the largest documentary festival and market in North America. The Irish team was given support from Culture Ireland to attend the event.

Commenting on the film, Jury members which included Michael Lumpkin, International Documentary Association, and Angie Driscoll, Hot Docs International Programmer, said: “We picked one film that we all connected with … that film captured a place and the people with so much genuine spirit, ease and humour…”

‘Forty Foot’ is about the older groups of mostly Irish locals who swim in Sandycove every day. The film tells the history of the place through the personal stories and characteristics of the featured swimmers.

Edinburgh Film Festival has announced the selection of Juanita Wilson's IFTA Award winning short film ‘The Door’, Rory Bresnihan’s ‘The Man Inside’ and Michael Kiniron’s ‘Lowland Fell’ which will all screen in competition for the International Short Fiction Award. The shorts join Irish feature ‘Wide Open Spaces’ in the Scottish festival’s official selection.

Belfast born Duncan Campbell’s short film ‘Bernadette’ has won the ARTE Prize for a European Short Film and The International Critics Prize at the 55th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (30 April - 5 May 2009).

The film is based on the NI political activist Bernadette Devlin who made a significant impact in the times of the Northern Irish conflict and the events of the Bloody Sunday. Using newsreel and archival footage, it captures the universal truth of political engagement and of the possibilities and difficulties of a life thereafter.

Bluesoup in conjunction with Screaming Monkey Productions have wrapped production on the short film ‘The Con-saw-Tina Effect’.

The film is a tale of two unlucky in love singletons, Con and Tina, focuses on their chance meeting and how quickly the excitement of a possible new romance coming together, can cause that same romance to quickly fall apart.

This latest comedy offering from writer Steven Murray (Situations Vacant), who also makes his directorial debut, and stars Karl Harpur (I Keano) as Con and Mary Murray (The Magdalene Sisters, Situations Vacant ) as Tina.