Beckett on Film, the unique project to commit all of Samuel Beckett's 19 plays to film, produced by Blue Angel and Tyrone productions for RTÉ and Channel 4 with the support of the Irish Film Board, has been awarded the 'Best TV Drama' award at the sixth South Bank Show Awards ceremony, which took place on Wednesday 6th February in London.
The South Bank Show awards were voted for by a panel of industry experts, chaired by writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg. The award was accepted at the ceremony by producers Michael Colgan and Alan Moloney. Cathal Goan, Director of Television at RTÉ, who unfortunately couldn't be at the awards ceremony, was delighted at the news:
'We are delighted that a project such as Beckett on Film has been honoured by the South Bank Show.
Bringing the entire corpus of stage plays of Samuel Beckett, one of the most significant dramatists of the twentieth century and a giant of Irish literature, to cinema and television audiences was a huge privilege for RTÉ, and as such it belongs to the highest traditions of public service broadcasting. We are very grateful to the producers Michael Colgan and Alan Moloney and our partners, Tyrone Productions, Channel 4 and the Irish Film Board for their support in bringing this project to fruition.'
The Beckett on Film project, consisting of the entire canon of Beckett's stage plays; 19 films ranging from 45 seconds to two hours long, was launched in Dublin on February 1, 2001. It enjoyed a sell-out cinema release in the Irish Film Centre in February and was premiered on RTÉ from Sunday 18 March to Monday 2 April, 2001. It was shown on Channel 4 in the summer and has been sold to 15 countries so far.
Each of the nineteen films was directed by one of the most highly-acclaimed international directors working today - Atom Egoyan, Anthony Minghella, Neil Jordan, David Mamet - and featured the finest acting talent, including Julianne Moore, John Gielgud, John Hurt, Jeremy Irons, Alan Rickman, and Kristen Scott Thomas.
Beckett on Film is also available on DVD, distributed in Ireland through (a href="http://www.clarencepix.ie" target="new">Clarence Pictures and at www.beckettonfilm.com
For further information, please contact: Cathriona Edwards, RTÉ TV Publicist, at 01 208 3160/ 087 647 1120
