Adrian McCarthy of Wildfire Films took the Overall Award for the one hour documentary ‘AIDS in Africa – A MISSING GENERATION’ of which he both directed and produced.
The documentary was screened on RTE on World AIDS day in December 2006 and focuses on the people in Eastern Africa whose lives have been taken over by HIV and AIDS – thus are known as ‘the missing generations’. The film looks at the work of former Irish nurse Mary Donohoe and her organisation The Rose Project, whose purpose is to give financial and medical support to some of the smaller HIV and AIDS support groups in these countries. Despite the bleak picture of these missing generations the documentary offers insights into the response and endeavours of the local women to combat the pandemic.
Speaking to IFTN, McCarthy said of his award “It’s a great honour because it’s a very valued award because of what it represents and of the history of Radharc’s documentaries that were the backbone of documentaries in this country for years. I suppose they try and keep it going and try to show that there are documentaries still being made at home and abroad.
McCarthy explains that the doc has two aims ‘One is to highlight. It was a documentary that people will open up their brains, its reality. It’s the reality with AIDS. I think the whole idea is to keep the issue on the radar somehow which is quite difficult to do in this contemporary world of celebrity”
“Making the documentary was a challenging experience for us all but our main character, Mary Donohoe, showed us how one person can make such a difference. Single handedly she set up The Rose Project and is really changing people’s lives. She’s an inspiration to us all. Respect.”
McCarthy is currently in edited on a new documentary about the original Irish soap opera ‘The Riordans’.
DOP Richard Kendrick (Paul Durcan: The Dark School) filmed on a Digi cam era on location in Kenya and Malawi from June – August 2006. Sound was by Mick Cassidy (Celebrity Jigs 'n' Reels) while editing was carried out by Brenda Morrissey.
Other Radharc winners included the Award for Best Short Documentary which was picked up by Julian Ulrichs and Richard Walsh of the Huston school of Film and Digital Media, NUI Galway for their documentary ‘F.G.M. No Way Home’ Loic Jourdain of Lugh Film’s ‘Fear na nOileain’, and to Peadar King of KMF Productions for ‘What in the World, Three Years, Eight Months and twenty days in Kampuchea’
The Radharc Awards are presented to the producers of documentaries which address national or international topics of social justice, morality or faith and honour the memory of the late Fr Joe Dunn, co-founder of past independent production company Radharc Films. The jury of journalists and industry professionals included RTE correspondent Carole Coleman, Fr Shay Cullen, recent recipient of the International Person of the Year Award, producer Eleanor Cunney, Paul Tully of independent Production company Xstream Pictures, and Mark Waters who has written and directed various short films and is currently in pre-production on his debut feature.
