The feature documentary ‘Horses’, from writer/director Liz Mermin (The Beauty Academy of Kabul, Shot in Bombay), has been shortlisted for the Best Cinema Documentary award at the Grierson Awards which will take place on the 2nd November in London’s BFI Southbank.
The doc looks at Ireland’s horse-racing culture which has produced some of the finest athletes in the world. The 77 minute feature doc looks to draw audiences into the lives of three of them over the course of a difficult racing year -- focusing not on jockeys or trainers, but on the horses themselves. The featured horses are framed by a collection of human supporting actors, from their good-looking foul-mouthed trainer to an elderly groom who, quite clearly, prefers horses to people. In this approach ‘Horses’ seeks to raise basic questions about what constitutes character and who can have it.
In a previous conversation with IFTN writer and director Liz Mermin told IFTN about her hopes are for the project, saying:
“Though it may not change anyone’s world, I do hope that ‘Horses’ will be appreciated as a story of three characters trying to earn their keep in a rather unforgiving world.”
Ken Wardrop's feature ‘His & Hers’ was shortlisted for an award at last year's ceremony and has since gone on to achieve enormous commercial and critical success.
‘Horses’ is a West Park Pictures West production, produced by Aisling Ahmed (Learning Gravity), and executive producers are James Mitchell (The Disappearance) and Andre Singer (Pole to Pole). Bert Hunger (This is my Africa) was the feature’s editor whilst Ken O'Mahony (The Irish Township) and Ciaran Tanham (Northanger Abbey) acted as then project's directors of photography. It was co-financed by the IFB, RTÉ and BBC Storyville.
Established in 1972, the Grierson Awards recognise and celebrate documentaries from Britain and abroad that have made a significant contribution to the genre and that demonstrate quality, integrity, creativity, originality and overall excellence.
The winners will be announced at the Grierson 2010 award ceremony, which will take place at the BFI Southbank, London on Tuesday 2nd November.