Simon Fitzmaurice’s ‘The Sound of People’, Connor Clements ‘James’, Robert Nugent’s ‘End of the Rainbow’ and Marcin Sauter’s ‘The First Day’ were all pronounced winners on the closing night at the 8th Jameson Belfast Film Festival.
Simon Fitzmaurice’s ‘The Sound of People’ scooped the Jameson Best Short Film Award. The short captures a moment in the life of an eighteen year old boy as he stands on the brink between life and death. Connor Clements’ ‘James’, a 17 minute short which deals with teenage sexuality, won the Skillset Best Northern Irish Film award.
The Maysles Brothers Award, now in its third year, was for the first time awarded to both short and feature documentaries in separate categories. Robert Nugent’s ‘End of the Rainbow’ (Australia), picked up the Maysles Brothers Award for Documentary Feature. The doco captures on film the events that unfold when a gold mining company moves into a remote area of Guinea, West Africa, forcing the local tribe to move from traditional to modern gold mining methods.
“We were struck by the way in which ‘End of the Rainbow’ told an important and powerful story with breathtaking clarity, economy and beauty,” commented the Maysles Award Jury.
‘End of the Rainbow’ had its UK and Ireland premiere in competition at the Belfast Film Festival subsequent to winning the First Appearance Award at IDFA 2007.
Polish director Marcin Sauter’s ‘The First Day’ picked up the Maysles Brothers Documentary Short award. The short follows a group of young children are taken from their families in the tundra on a long journey to their first day at an urban Russian school.
The jury dubbed Sauter’s short a “confident, poetic film that marks the rite of passage for its central characters with evocative, cinematic imagery and a simple but compelling structure."
The festival Award Ceremony took place on Friday 19 April. More info on the festival can be found at www.belfastfilmfestival.org.
