On Sunday 13th July, the 26th Galway Film Fleadh came to a close, following another outstanding year of Irish and international film premieres, screenings, workshops and discussions. The annual awards ceremony, which took place before the screening of closing film ‘An Bronntanas’, was attended by its stars John Finn and Dara Devaney, and director Tom Collins (‘Kings’).
The Galway Hooker Awards were presented to actress Brenda Fricker (‘My Left Foot’, ‘Casualty’) and to animation studio Brown Bag Films (‘Peter Rabbit’, ‘Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty’).
Brenda captivated an audience with an engaging public interview with Sean Rocks at the Town Hall, and received a rapturous ovation from the crowd, followed by a screening of her latest film, ‘A Long Way from Home’, attended by the director Virginia Gilbert.
The founding duo of the animation powerhouse Brown Bag Films were the subject of this year’s Irish Tribute at the Fleadh in recognition of their success as Irish animators on the international stage, including such successes as ‘Doc McStuffins’ and two Oscar-nominated shorts. They were presented with the award at Sunday’s ceremony after a retrospective of their work and a workshop with young animators on Saturday.
The highly coveted Best Irish Feature award was presented by Gale Wilson and shared between Gerard Barrett’s (‘Pilgrim Hill’) latest feature ‘Glassland’, the premiere for which lead actors Jack Reynor and Will Poulter were in attendance, and ‘Patrick’s Day’ from director Terry McMahon (‘Charlie Casanova’). Second place was awarded to ‘Noble’, a biopic from Stephen Bradley starring Deirdre O’Kane.
The Best Irish Feature Documentary prize also had two winners – ‘Blood Fruit’, directed by Sinéad O’Brien and produced by Noel Pearson, and ‘One Million Dubliners’, directed by Aiofe Kelleher and produced by Rachel Lysaght. Second place for the category was awarded to ‘A City Dreaming’, which was directed by Mark McCauley and produced by Chris Martin and Andrew Eaton.
The Galway Film Fleadh is also unique in that since 2011, the Fleadh has been recognised as a qualifying festival for the Academy Awards Short Film categories. Recipients of the James Gorgan Award for Best Animation and the Tiernan MacBride Award for Best Short Drama will qualify for consideration.
This year ‘Fresh Cut Grass’ from director Robert Cullen and producers Anne Tweedy and Peter Lewis, with a special mention to Sarah Walsh’s ‘Marrying the Sea’, won the award for Best Animation. Director Dave Tynan and producer Michael Donnelly won the Best Short Drama prize for their short ‘Rockmount’ while ‘Boogaloo & Graham’ was given special mention. ‘Fresh Cut Grass’ and ‘Rockmount’ will therefore go forward to be considered for an Oscar nomination.
The Bingham New Talent Award is presented to one of outstanding new talent in the area of film production, acting and directing. This year’s winner was AnneMarie Naughton, producer for Irish horror ‘The Canal’, while the other nominees were actor Moe Dunford for ‘Patrick’s Day’, director Niall Heery for ‘Gold’, actor Dara Devaney for ‘An Bronntanas’ and actress Tara Breathnach for ‘A Nightingale Falling.’
The other Awards were as follows:
THE DONAL GILLIGAN AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A SHORT FILM
Special Mention for The Swing
Winner: D.O.P Patrick Jordan for Volkswagen Joe
THE BEST FIRST SHORT ANIMATION AWARD
SPECIAL MENTION: Forgot
DIRECTOR: Stephen McNally
PRODUCER: Royal College of Art
WINNER: A Girl’s Best Friend
DIRECTOR: Clare Carroll
PRODUCER: IADT
THE BEST FIRST SHORT DRAMA AWARD
SPECIAL MENTION: Luke
Director: Conor Hamil
Producer: Joshua Burdon
WINNER: The Swing
Director: Damien Dunne
Producer: Nora Windeck
THE BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY AWARD
JOINT WINNERS
The Sisters
Director: Ailish Sarah Flaherty
Producer: Ailish Sarah Flaherty
Inez – A Challenging Woman
Directors: Eimhear O’Neill, Trevor Birney
Producer: Trevor Birney, Susan McKay, Eimhear O’Neill
BEST ANIMATION SEQUENCE IN A SHORT FILM
Special Mention: Somewhere Down the Line
Director: Julien Regnard
Producer: Jonathan Clarke
Winner: Vertical Horizons
DIRECTOR: Anita Gaughan
PRODUCER: IADT
THE DON QUIJOTE AWARD IS AWARDED FOR ANIMATION IN A SHORT FILM
Special Mention: Shoot
Director: Rory Conroy
Producer: Ballyfermott College of Further Education
Winner: Deadly
Director: Aidan McAteer
Producer: Shannon George
Best Irish First Feature
WINNER: I USED TO LIVE HERE
PRODUCED & DIRECTED BY: FRANK BERRY
Best International First Feature presented by Kate O’Toole
Second place: RHYMES FOR YOUNG GHOULS
DIRECTOR: JEFF BARNABY
PRODUCER: JOHN CHRISTOU, AISLING CHIN-YEE
WINNER: STILL
DIRECTOR/WRITER: SIMON BLAKE
PRODUCER: COLETTE DELANEY-SMITH, ZORANA PIGGOT
Best International Feature
Second place: THE ENEMY WITHIN
DIRECTOR : YORGOS TSEMBEROPOULOS
PRODUCER ELENI KOSSYFIDOU
WINNER: OBVIOUS CHILD
DIRECTOR: GILLIAN ROBESPIERRE
PRODUCER: ELIZABETH HOLM
Best International Feature Documentary
Second place: BRAVE MISS WORLD
DIRECTOR: CECILIA PECK
PRODUCER: CECILIA PECK & IMBAL BLESSNER
WINNER: THE BREACH
DIRECTOR: MARK TITUS
PRODUCER: SUSAN LA SALLE
Best Human Rights Feature
WINNER: AFRICAN PRIDE
DIRECTOR: Laura Fletcher
Galway Film Fleadh’s Pitching Award
Winner: CIAN McGARRIGLE for his pitch ’12-Gauge Withdrawal.’