Kirsten Sheridan's 'Patterns' won the Grand Prix at the 11th International competition at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in France which ran from January 29 to February 4
Patterns is an exploration of an autistic boy's relationship with his family. Kirsten wrote, produced, directed and edited the film herself. "Patterns" has already scooped a slew of awards in Ireland and Kirsten herself won Best Newcomer Award at last years Guinness Ball.
With all genres represented (fiction, animation, experimental and documentary), around 70 films made in 1997-98 in some fifty different countries were presented at the Clermont-Ferrand International Festival.
The Festival also includes the 14th Short Film Market which allows TV buyers, distributors and festival programmers access to recent worldwide production. During the 1998 market, more than 50 TV channels or services, about 50 distributors and more than 60 international festivals attended the market to view, select and buy films.
The market included special programmes which allow buyers and sellers to organise, on request, special screenings (16 mm, 35 mm or video) as an addition to the promotional initiatives set up by the societies or organisations present at the festival or the market. About twenty of them from various countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italia, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Québec, Scotland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, U.S.A.) used this promotion tool specifically aimed at professionals. There was also a 600-page Market catalogue (French/English - 16 cm x 24 cm) listing some 2,000 titles from the recent world production.
There was in addition a Media Rendez-Vous Outlet : thanks to Media (European Union) a location designed to prompt specific meetings was set up. Its main purpose was to encourage contacts between European professionals on the basis of both networking and formal appointments.
The 1999 International Award winners were
Grand Prix - Patterns - Kirsten Sheridan - Ireland
Prix spécial du jury - Life in fog - Bahman Ghobadi - Iran
Prix Recherche - Phil touches Flo - David Birdsell - US
Prix du Public - En el espejo del cielo - Carlos Salces -Mexique
Prix de la jeunesse -Surveiller les tortues - Inès Rabadan - Belgium
Prix Canal+ - Senores de Gardenia - Antonio Aloy - Spain
Prix de la presse - Creampuff - Jared Seide - US and En el espejo del cielo - Carlos Salces- Mexico
Screenplay Awards
Prix du Conseil Général du Puy-de-Dôme (180 000 F) - Les vieux jours by Angelo Cianci
Prix de la Ville de Clermont-Ferrand (100 000 F) - L'âme soeur by Olivier Chrétien
National Award Winners were:
Grand Prix - Un beau jour sans conséquence - Laurent Bouhnik
Prix spécial du jury - Des heures sans sommeil - Ursula Meier
Prix S.A.C.D. (best first film) - Le cyclope de la mer - Philippe Jullien
Prix Recherche (Prix du jury) - La bouche cousue - Jean-Luc Greco
Prix de la jeunesse - Journal - Sébastien Laudenbach
Prix de la presse - Le cyclope de la mer - Philippe Jullien
Prix du public - Les trois soeurs - Guy-Philippe Bertin
Prix Canal + - Sale battars - Delphine Gleize
Prix Procirep "Producer" - Quo Vadis Cinéma
Prix FNAC "Talent" - Acide animé - Guillaume Bréaud
Prix d'interprétation "Comedy" - Emmanuelle Devos in La tentation de l'innocence by Fabienne Godet
Meillleur comédien - Jalil Lespert in Le centre du monde by Djibril Glissant and in Bonne résistance à la douleur by Pierre-Erwan Guillaume
Michael McMahon 11/2/99