The 35th Celtic Media Festival got underway yesterday in St Ives, with Ireland’s Midas Productions taking home the award in the Sport category for ‘Croí Trodach - A Fighting Heart’.
300 delegates descended on the town to attend the three-day celebration of film, television, radio and digital media. The festival aims to promote the unique languages and cultures of the Celtic nations and regions, and will feature talks from some of the biggest names in the film and broadcast world.
‘Croí Trodach - A Fighting Heart’ came out as winner of this year’s Sport category. Produced by Midas Productions, the Irish documentary tells the story of Johnny Kilbane, the longest reigning World Featherweight Champion of all time. His rags-to-riches story, that begins on Achill Island off the West Coast of Ireland, from where his ancestors originated, and finishes in Cleveland Ohio, where he is revered as one of their most famous sons, is an epic story. The film is directed by Des Kilbane, originally from Achill Island and himself a distant relation of Johnny. ‘Croí Trodach - A Fighting Heart’, produced by Mike Keane, is a co-production between Midas Productions and DesK films for TG4 with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. In addition, the film features a specially commissioned original soundtrack by Portland musician and award-winning writer Willy Vlautin, founder of the band Richmond Fontaine. ‘Tommy Bowe’s Bodycheck’, produced by Independent Pictures’ for RTÉ and BAI, was also shortlisted in the Sport Category.
The first of this year’s prestigious Bronze Torc Awards for Excellence was presented to the animation ‘Spectators’ (Scotland) produced and directed by Ross Hogg. Winning this year’s Arts category was ‘Gerallt’, an insightful docu-film produced by Welsh independent TV Production Company Cwmni Da. ‘Dá la’ san Damhair’, commissioned for BBC Alba by MG Alba, was presented with the Bronze Torc Award in the Entertainment category.
Some of the most influential figures from the broadcasting and film industries will attend the Celtic Media Festival 2014 over 2 - 4 April, including ‘The Fall’ executive producer Justin Thomas Glover, BBC Scotland Commissioning Editor Ewan Angus, British television writer/producer/director Jed Mercurio, TG4 Director of Commissioning Mícheál Ó Meallaigh and Head of RTE Radio na Gaeltachta Edel Ní Chuireáin. An interview will also be held with Richard Williams, CEO of Northern Ireland Screen, about Northern Ireland’s emergence as a prized filming location. Williams previously organised the development of the Paint Hall at Titanic Quarter into an invaluable film studio, most notably attracting HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ which has filmed there for the show’s four seasons thus far.
Organisers were inundated with over 400 submissions from across Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, the Isle of Man and Ireland, and more Bronze Torc winners – which have been selected by an international jury - will be announced over the next three days.
Check out IFTN.ie for a full summary of the Irish nominations and for further details on the festival, please visit: celticmediafestival.co.uk
