Irish director Darren Thornton’s short film ‘Two Hearts’ has been nominated for the European Film Academy’s (EFA) short film award.
The Calipo Pictures short is among 14 films in the running for the prize, which will be announced in Malta on December 1.
‘Two Hearts’ follows the life of Lorna, a young girl who is haunted by her past when a man she used to know is released from prison.
It was written by Thornton’s brother Colin and recently screened at SF Shorts: The San Francisco International Festival of Short Film in September.
The European Film Awards is organised in conjunction with a number of film festivals across Europe, with an independent jury presenting one of the films with a short film category nomination at each festival. ‘Two Hearts’ was picked at the Corona Cork Film Festival.
The films nominated will be presented to over 2,700 EFA members who will elect a winner. Michael Fassbender’s ‘Shame’ is also up for People’s Choice at the awards.
’Two Hearts’ was funded under the IFB Signatures Scheme, and was produced by Colette Farrell for Calipo Pictures. The Thornton brothers recently received further IFB funding for their feature ‘Ten Dates with Mad Mary’, due to begin production in 2013.
Another Irish short, ‘Bye Bye Now’, has been selected to represent Ireland at the EU Film Festival in China in November.
The documentary explores the fate of the phone booth in Ireland, featuring a series of interviews from those who have used the phone booth and learned to let it go, to those who are saddened at its near extinction.
Aideen O’Sullivan and Ross Whitaker co-directed and co-produced for True Films. The documentary has screened at a number of international festivals recently, including the AFI/Discovery Channel Silverdocs Festival and festivals in Nashville, Dallas and Cork.
Director Whitaker said he hopes Chinese audiences will relate to the film just as well as Irish audiences.
