Northern Ireland drama ‘Occupation’ Wins at Prix Europa

The Prix Europa awards ceremony was held in Berlin on Saturday, October 24th, and saw the Nick Murphy (Surviving Disaster) directed war drama ‘Occupation’ scoop the special Prix Europa award. Written by Peter Bowker (Canterbury Tales) and starring James Nesbitt (Cherrybomb), ‘Occupation’ traces the lives of three British soldiers and spans the five years following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, it was filmed in Northern Ireland and Iraq.

Special Commendations in the same category went to ‘Five Minutes of Heaven’ from director Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) The film, commissioned by BBC Northern Ireland, was written by BAFTA-winning scribe Guy Hibbert (Omagh). Partly based on true events, the film tells the story of two men, Joe Griffin and Alistair Little, wracked by their experiences during the violent conflicts in Northern Ireland and struggling to come to terms with the after effects. Director of photography for the project is Ruairí O’Brien (The Running Mate, Teeth) and stars Liam Neeson (Kinsey) and James Nesbitt and was partly funded by the Irish Film Board.

In other Irish related news, the Special Prix Europa in the Radio Documentary category has been awarded to RTÉ’s ‘Mighty Mac’ which explores the story of Ger Mac Namara, a master upholsterer and world champion power lifter. The documentary was written by Michael O’Kane and directed and produced by Liam O’Brien (Tonight with Vincent Browne)

The Prix Europa has been running for 23 years, and aims to recognise the continent’s best output and encourage debate between broadcasting creatives of all disciplines. Held in Berlin, it is judged by an ‘open jury’ system, whereby self-elected panels cast votes after watching and debating a week’s worth of films.

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