'Pentecost' Takes Cork Irish Short Honours | The Irish Film & Television Network

Best Irish Short Film

IFTA nominee Don Wycherley (Speed Dating) and IFTA winner Michael McElhatton (Paths to Freedom) star in ‘Pentecost’.

Directed by Peter McDonald (Harvey), the short follows eleven-year-old Damian who is called at the last minute to serve as an altar boy at an important mass in his local parish. A release from the Cork Film Festival organisers explains that the National Jury presented the Best Irish Short Film award to ‘Pentecost’ for its ”Impressive skill in mastering the notoriously difficult art of comedy.” Special mentions in this category went to Brian O’Malley for ‘Crossing Salween’ and to David O’Reilly for ‘The External World’.

The National Jury was made up of Irish director Conor Ferguson (Atlantic); Scottish actress, Diane Henderson (Best Friend) and Finnish Festival director of Tampere film festival, Jukka-Pekka Laakso.

Made in Cork Award

The ‘Made In Cork’ Award for Best Short Film was awarded to Brian Power for his project, ‘Kettle’.

The short centres around Eddie who has just been released from Prison after only two months and Casey, another local criminal, who is suspicious of this. Special Mentions were awarded to ‘Hungry Hickory’ by Damian McCarthy (He Dies at the End) and Mike Hannon for his short, ‘Greyhound Track’.

The ‘Made In Cork’ Jury was comprised of Chris Clarke, director Treasa O'Brien (N52) and William Wall. Of their winners, the jury stated: “In adjudicating the 'Made In Cork' selection, we feel it important to commend, in addition to the overall winner, two other films. We found ‘Hungry Hickory’ and ‘Greyhound Track’ to be both exceptional and innovative films, albeit in very different ways. Ultimately, however, our winning film is one that demonstrates a willingness to take risks in form and narrative content. It employs an artistic confidence, economical structure and pervading sense of tension that, nevertheless, completely caught us by surprise. That film is ‘Kettle.”

Claire Lynch Award

The Claire Lynch Award for Best First-Time Irish Director of a Short Film was awarded to Cathy Brady (Trapped) for ‘Small Change’. Starring Nora-Jane Noone (Savage) the film tells the tale of Karen, a boren single mother who becomes addicted to slot machines. The category was again adujudicated by the National Jury who complimented Cathy on her ”Subtle handling of storytelling and emotion.”A special mention here went to Luke Daly for ‘S(Kin)’.

Cork Film Festival Audience Awards

The Cork Film Festival’s Audience Award for Best Irish Short Film went to David Freyne (The Mill) for ‘Passing’ which examines a woman's final journey with her husband across their land. The Audience Award for Best International Short Film went to the Irish/ Swedish/ Danish co-production, ‘Miss Remarkable & Her Career’ went to Joanna Rubin Dranger. The short is a darkly comedic animation which tells the tale of Miss Remarkable’s struggles in the areas of parenting and her career.

Best Short Film/ OutLook Award/ Best International Short Film

The festival’s award for Best Short Film went to German filmmaker, Florian Riegel (Heaven on Erath) for ‘Holding Still’, a documentary about a woman bedridden for 20 years. This category’s special mention prize went to the French/ Algerian short, ‘We Will Not Die’ from Amal Kateb (Bains-Douches).

The event’s OutLook Award for Best LGBT Short Film went to Chile director, Marialy Rivas (Smog) for ‘Blokes’.

Best International Short Film went to ‘Son’ English filmmaker, Daniel Mulloy’s ‘Baby’ about a young woman intervenes when she witnesses men mugging a girl. The International Jury was made up of Turkey’s Ahmet Boyacioglu, Irish filmmaker Tony Donoghue (A Film From My Parish: 6 Farms), Swiss writer Alessandro Marcionni (Condomania) and Polish actress, Ewa Szablowska (Sztos). Special mentions in the cateogory of Best International Short Film went to David O’Reilly for ‘The External World’ and Lionel Rupp for ‘The Forest’.

Cork Short Film EFA Nominee

Finally, the Cork Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards is now ‘Incident By A Bank’ from Swedish director, Ruben Ostlund. The short sees 96 people choreographed in a one-shot scenario that is a highly entertaining re-enactment of a bank robbery.

For more information about this year’s 2010 Corona Cork Film Festival visit www.corkfilmfest.org.

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