Tile Films’ IFTA-nominated documentary 'Saving the Titanic' has been recognised at two major awards ceremonies in the UK - winning three awards at the British Independent Film Festival and 'Best Feature' at the Celtic Media Festival in Swansea.
At the British Independent Film Festival, it scooped Best Director for Maurice Sweeney, Best Supporting Actor for Ciaran McMenamin, and Best Feature Film for producer Stephen Rooke.
Mr Rooke said that the aim of the British Independent Film Festival - to encourage the 'resourceful spirit' of filmmakers to create work even when it seems impossible - was very much in evidence during the production of 'Saving the Titanic'.
'Telling the story of what happened to the engineering crew on the Titanic’s maiden voyage was always going to be an ambitious undertaking,' he said. 'We wouldn’t have been able to produce this film if we hadn’t had strong support from RTE right from the start. And without the support of the BAI’s Sound & Vision broadcasting funding Scheme the film would never have happened.'
Mr Rooke noted that the three awards constituted a major triumph for the production, as an important acknowledgment of the 'fantastic Irish cast and crew' who worked on the project.
'But it was a difficult process, because we had to pull the rest of the finance together from a variety of sources and ultimately we had an extremely tight budget for a very ambitious film. So it’s brilliant to get this recognition for all involved,' he added.
'Saving the Titanic' - which is currently being screened in 12 cinemas across the UK as part of the British Independent Film Festival - also recently won the Gold World Medal award for best docudrama at the New York Festivals, and the Award of Excellence in a Feature Film at the Accolade Competition in California.
The film has so far been broadcast in Ireland, the UK, the US, Canada, Germany, Austria and France and been watched by an estimated 10 million people.
‘Saving the Titanic’ is a co-production between Tile Films in Dublin and Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion in Germany, in association with the Irish Film Board, RTE, the BAI’s Sound and Vision fund, Windmill Lane Pictures, Section 481, AETN/History UK, ZDF and ZDFE Enterprises.
