Writer and director Ruán Magan’s fantasy thriller ‘Angel’ won the top award, the Best Of Festival, as well as the Best Drama prize. Claire Dix’s ‘Downpour’ was the other major winner, taking the Best Irish Short Film award and the Best Cinematography prize for director of photography Piers McGrail (Kelly and Victor).
‘The Hatch’ by writer/ director Mike Ahern and director Enda Loughman, who are best known for their commercial and music video work as D.A.D.D.Y, won the Best In Cork award as well as Best Original Music award for composer George Brennan.
Speaking to IFTN, Clare Dix spoke of her delight of her double win. She said: “It’s brilliant to get the acknowledgement and a great one personally, as I’m originally from Bantry in Cork. So it was nice in that regard. It was great to see Piers win as well as he did fantastic work on the short.
“This is the seventh of eighth award ‘Downpour’ has won. We never expected it to do this well. We thought it would get into festivals, but never expected it to win so many prizes. It’s great.”
Dix’s drama is described as a “celebration of Irish rain”. It tells the story of a bride-to-be as she recalls pivotal moments in her relationship that all took place in a shower a drizzle or a downpour. The short stars Muireann Bird (Eamon) and was produced by Nodlag Houlihan for Zucca Films.
‘Downpour’ also recently picked up the Best Short Script award at the ZeBBies earlier this month. The short was funded under the Irish Film Board Short Shorts scheme and has also won awards at the Foyle Festival and the Boston Irish Film Festival.
The team are currently hard at work preparing their IFB Signatures project, Alia, which is scheduled to film in early June.
’Angel,’ by writer/ director Ruán Magan stars Patrick Bergin (Patriot Games) and Natalia Kostrzewa (Life’s A Breeze) and tells the story of a young girl wandering Dublin's streets encountering people experiencing the despair of adult life. Magan produced the short with Ned O Hanlon.
Filmed in January 2011 by cinematographer, Brian O Carroll, the sets were designed by Padraig O Neill with costumes by Chacha Seigne. Stephen O Connell edited and post-production was carried out in Windmill Lane Pictures.
’The Hatch’ is set against the backdrop of a stormy night on-board a small rural Irish trawler as a fisherman and his son witness a unearthly glowing object fall to sea.
It was produced by Gary Moore for Red Rage Films and funded under the Irish Film Board’s Signatures scheme. James Mather was the director of photography with Denis Conway (Garage) and Timmy Creed (My Brothers) among the cast. Post-production was carried out at Windmill Lane with editor Stephen O’Connell.
Other winners at the Fastnet Short Film Festival, which ran from May 24-27, included Best Youg Filmmaker Caleb Slain of the USA for ‘The Lost & Found Shop’ and Irish director Ged Murray (Hell Cat), who took the Best Comedy prize for ‘Small Time,’ which was produced by Failsafe Films.
The Full list of winners were:
BEST OF FESTIVAL
‘Angel’ – Ruán Magan (Ireland)
BEST IRISH SHORT FILM
‘Downpour’ – Claire Dix (Ireland)
BEST YOUNG FILMMAKER (U22)
‘The Lost & Found Shop’ – Caleb Slain (USA)
BEST IN CORK
‘The Hatch’ – Enda Loughman & Mike Ahern (Ireland)
BEST DRAMA
‘Angel’ – Ruán Magan (Ireland)
BEST COMEDY
‘Small Time’ – Ged Murray (Ireland)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
‘Bei Yao Wan, Shanghai’ – Shiyan Feng (USA)
BEST EXPERIMENTAL
‘Martha Cristiana Merino’ (Mexico)
BEST DANCE
‘Painted’ – Duncan McDowall (Canada)
BEST ANIMATION
‘Mutatio’ – León Fernandez (Mexico)
BEST DIRECTION
‘Chit Chat’ – Piet Sonck (Belgium)
BEST SCREENPLAY
‘The Voorman Problem’ – Mark Gill (UK)
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC
‘The Hatch’ – Enda Loughman & Mike Ahern (Ireland)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
‘Downpour’ – Claire Dix (Ireland)
