Lelia Doolan’s Northern Irish documentary ‘Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey’ has been shortlisted for the Grierson Award for Best Documentary at this year’s BFI London Film Festival.
‘Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey’ explores the political life of Bernadette Devlin McAliskey during the 1960’s for a period of nine years. It scooped Best Feature Documentary at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh, where it had its world premiere.
Also shortlisted for the Best Documentary Award at this year’s LFF is Carol Morley’s ‘Dreams of a Life’, which was filmed in Ireland and tells the story of a woman found dead in her flat above Wood Green Shopping Centre, London. With her body having laid there for three years, ‘Dreams of a Life’ is a quest to find out how this woman came to be so forgotten.
The other documentaries competing for the Grierson gong at LFF are Werner Herzog’s ‘Into The Abyss: A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life’, Tristan Patterson’s ‘Dragonslayer’, Katie Galloway and Kelly Duande de la Vega’s ‘Better This World’, Goran Hugo Olsson’s ‘The Black Power Mixtape’ and Don Argott and Demian Fenton’s ‘Last Days Here’.
The BFI London Film Festival will also be presenting awards in the following categories: the Sutherland Award for most original and imaginative feature debut, Best Film and Best British Newcomer. Director David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method) and Ralph Fiennes (Coriolanus) will both be honoured with a BFI fellowship at the awards ceremony, which takes place on October 26th.
Other Irish features screening at the BFI London Film Festival include Alexandra McGuiness’ ‘Lotus Eaters’ and Paolo Sorrentino’s ‘This Must Be The Place’. The BFI London Film Festival runs from 12 - 27 October 2011.
