Inis Mór, the largest of the Aran Islands, is the winner of the seventh edition of the EUFCN Location Award, the award for best European location in the film and TV industry organized by EUFCN (The European Film Commissions Network).
The EUFCN Location Award was accepted by Screen Ireland’s Inward Production and Sustainability Executive Michael Byrne on Sunday, February 18th at the EUFCN Location Award Ceremony during the European Film Market 2024 (EFM) in Berlin.
The island was a key location for The Banshees of Inisherin, directed by Martin McDonagh, starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.
“Screen Ireland is delighted to have Inis Mór recognised with the EUFCN Location Award for The Banshees of Inisherin,” said Steven Davenport, Head of US Production and Partnerships Screen Ireland. “This is the second time an Irish location has won this award, which really speaks to how much Ireland offers as a place for production: not just in terms of the country’s natural beauty – but our highly skilled crews and creative talent behind the camera.”
The Banshees of Inisherin is a Searchlight Pictures production, in association with Film4, Blueprint Pictures, TSG Entertainment and Metropolitan Films.
“A producer once told me this: there are two key elements at the start of a production of a film: locations and cast,” said EUFCN Co-President Carlota Guerrero. “In the same way an actor is not just a pretty face, I believe that a location is not just a pretty landscape. The EUFCN Location Award nominees are proof of that. The Location Award is a celebration of the complex process and the hard work behind the scouting and creative use of locations, the involvement of the film commissions together with local authorities and local communities, as well as the economic and social growth generated by filming in a territory. It ultimately is about what’s beyond locations.”
The European Film Commissions Network is a non-profit association that supports and promotes the European film industry and culture. It currently represents 100 film commissions in 32 countries in Europe. In 2017 the EUFCN established the Location Award.
The winner of the EUFCN Location Award 2023 was determined by the general public’s vote. One lucky name picked among the voters will have the chance to travel to Inis Mór and to experience the location.
During the first stage of the competition, EUFCN member film commissions had the opportunity to submit one location from a film or a TV series shot in their territory and released between October 3rd, 2022 and September 11st, 2023.
The EUFCN Location Award Jury evaluated all 24 submissions, focusing on the significant role of the location in the story and its outstanding use inside the audiovisual product.
The Jury was composed by Andrea David (Travel Blogger | Filmtourismus), Wendy Mitchell (Journalist, Moderator and Film Festival Consultant), Jerry Odlin (Sales Director of Boutique Editions Ltd), Alison Taylor (Location Manager, 1st Vice President of the LMGI) and Venia Vergou (Producer, Crew United Greece).
The five nominees for the EUFCN Location Award 2023 were Helsetkopen for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (Norwegian Film Commission), Hotel Parque do Rio for Bad Living (Portugal Film Commission), Inis Mór for The Banshees of Inisherin (Screen Ireland), Jotunheimen for Troll (Eastern Norway Film Commission) and Romsdalen Gondola for Succession Season 4 (Western Norway Film Commission).
