Irish documentaries ‘Waveriders’, directed by Joel Conroy, and ‘Northern Star’, directed by Niamh Sammon, have been shortlisted for the Grierson Documentary Awards 2008.
The Grierson Awards are dedicated to the pioneering Scottish documentary maker John Grierson, the man widely regarded as the father of the documentary. Established in 1972, the Awards recognise and celebrate documentaries that have made a significant contribution to the genre from Britain and abroad. Irish productions feature in two of the Grierson Award categories.
‘Waveriders’, a documentary feature co-production from Inis Films and Besom Productions, is shortlisted in UK Film Council Best Cinema Documenary category. The cross border documentary follows the spectacular nature of surfing in Ireland and showcases the world class surfing destinations available off the North West coast which are now attracting the best international surfers. Produced by Margo Harkin, ‘Waveriders’ also won the Audience Award at the Dublin Film Festival earlier this year and the doc competes against seven other films for the top gong including Oliver House’s ‘Garbage Warrior’ and Grant Gee’s ‘Joy Division’.
‘Northern Star’, produced by Independent Pictures for BBC Northern Ireland, is shortlisted in the Best Science Documentary category. The film tells the story of Northern Irish Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell and the Nobel prize she didn’t win. ‘Northern Star’ is directed by Niamh Sammon and produced by Christine Thornton, with Conor Moloney as exec producer. Channel 4’s ‘Stephen Hawking - Master of the Universe’ and BBC Two’s ‘How Does Your Memory Work?’ also feature among the eight nominated titles.
The lineup for each category will be reduced to four titles before the winners are announced at the annual British Documentary Awards ceremony which will take place at The Royal Institution, London, on 20 November 2008.
