Director John Boorman presented The Jameson Student Film Award to DIT students Ronan Burke and Pearse Ryan for their film “Smalltalk” at a reception in the Sugar Club. Writer/Director Ronan Burke and his co-writer Pearse Ryan, were the lucky winners of the Jameson Student Film Award, A VIP pass to the Cork Film Festival 2002, Kodak film stock and trainee positions on a feature film which will be shot in Ireland this Summer.
Open to third level students all over Ireland, the first annual Jameson Student Film Awards attracted over 80 submissions ranging from animation and documentaries to music videos and features. New media and digital technology have made filmmaking a much more accessible craft with many young people making their own films on digital cameras. These awards were established to create a platform for young filmmakers and to mentor emerging new talent.
The judging panel included Director John Boorman, Irish Times film critic Michael Dwyer, Producer Ed Guiney, Oscar nominated Animation Director Cathal Gaffney, Dave Fanning of the Movie Show, UCD Film Society Chairperson Rory Dungan and Felicity McGrath of Jameson Irish Whiskey.
The five finalists screened this evening were:
1902 – Andrew Legge, Conor McMahon, Ciaran Foy – Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art ,Design and Technology.
Boogeyman – Rory Fitzgerald - Ballyfermot College of Further Education
Wired – Ciaran Foy – Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art,Design and Technology.
Claire’s Choice – Lisa Byrne - Ballyfermot College of Further Education
Smalltalk – Ronan Burke and Pearse Ryan - DIT
“The overall standard exceeded my expectations.” Said Rory Dungan. “When I began to develop the idea of a gathering of all the best student filmmakers and student films from throughout the country I never thought that there would be so much support for the idea. The sheer volume of entries that we received from colleges all around the country ranging from Galway and Mayo to Belfast and Cork and Dublin was incredible.”
Michael Dwyer agreed."The standard was impressively high.” Commenting on Smalltalk, the winning entry, he said it …”was clever and remarkably well thought out in terms of script, performance and direction.” John Boorman thought Smalltalk was “ a good idea, well acted.”
