Reprisal Films/Element Pictures box office smash has won three prizes at the 22nd Dinard British Film Festival in France.
John Michael McDonagh’s debut feature took the Kodak Award for cinematography and the Prix Public, voted by the audience at the festival awards which took place last night. Cinematographer on ‘The Guard’ is Larry Smith (Eyes Wide Shut, Bronson). 'The Guard' also took home the ‘La Règle du Jeu’ prize (The Heartbeat award) which is awarded by a Jury of cinema developers from the region of Brittany.
The Irish comedy was also in competition for the Hitchcock D’Or Award but lost out to Paddy Considine’s directing debut ‘Tyrannosaur’, which also nabbed the Allianz award for the best screenplay at the ceremony.
The jury at the festival included Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger), Jacqueline Bisset (The Deep, Day for Night), Harry Gregson-Williams (Composer, Cowboys and Aliens, The Town) and Jaime Winstone (Made in Dagenham, Kidulthood).
‘The Guard’ tells the story of an unorthodox Irish policeman (Brendan Gleeson) who is teamed up with an uptight FBI agent (Don Cheadle) to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring operating through the West Coast of Ireland. ‘The Guard’ has taken over €4 million at the Irish Box Office and is the most successful independent Irish film of all time.
The Dinard Film Festival aims to promote British Films to French audiences and the 22nd annual festival took place in Dinard, France from October 5th-9th.
