Dubliner Eoghan is Ireland’s Young Film-maker of the Year 2006
Chosen from over one hundred entries, Dubliner Eoghan McQuinn was named as Ireland’s Young Film-Maker of the Year 2006 for his short film ‘The Cycle’.
17 year-old McQuinn’s film, screened before an audience of 500 schoolgoers at the viewing at the Fresh Film Festival in the Glor Arts Centre, Ennis today, details the last days of a boy suffering from cancer and the effects it has on his friends.
Eoghan received his prize from broadcaster Hector O’hEochagain following the screening.
In choosing first prize for the film, the Festival judges stated that they: “looked closely at this film and became very aware that here was a young film-maker operating at a very high level. The film was a very sensitive study of the effects illness can have, not just for one person but how it can change relationships fundamentally. Eoghan is a film-maker who understands the grammar of film-making, composition, shot structure and editing. The film also had the most moving ending the judges have seen in nine years of this competition.”
Festival director Jayne Foley said today: “We’re delighted with Eoghan’s win. He has made films for the Competition before and his work has constantly evolved and developed. This year he made it to the top.”
She continues: “The Festival is all about encouraging young people to make their own films – to give them an extra skill with which to deal with the world, to allow them to tell their own stories. We’ve screened over 100 films made by teenagers and even younger people, from across Ireland this week. It’s amazing to see the diversity of the work and the extraordinary standard that is now being achieved with access to new digital technologies.”
In second and third place respectively were ‘Date With Destruction’ a spoof on a romantic comedy by Ciaran McGinn and ‘Your Band Sucks’ an animated comedy detailing a band attempting to choose their lead singer. Director was Brian O’Sullivan from Cork.
Other Awards
The Radharc Trust Documentary Award: Sian Murray, Wesley College, Dublin for ‘The Fool’s Card’
