Kealan O’Rourke’s ‘The Boy in the Bubble’ picked up the Audience Award for Favourite Animation Short at the Palm Springs International Shortfest at the weekend.
The animation, centred around a 10-year-old boy who casts a spell so he cannot engage in emotions after having his heart broken for the first time, has already won a number of awards closer to home, including an IFTA and a Celtic Media Festival Award for Best Animation, both this year.
O’Rourke wrote the short with Ray Kane, and directed it himself. Brian Willis produced for Igloo Films, and ‘Harry Potter’ legend Alan Rickman narrated.
O’Rourke wrote on his twitter page that he was “thrilled” to have been honoured at the Palm Springs Shortfest. The festival is the largest short film festival and market in North America. It wrapped up yesterday, after screening over 320 films over six days.
This year a total of five Irish films were screened at the festival, including the documentary ‘Hold on Tight’, which is a series of interviews from the LGBT community directed by Anna Rodgers (350 South: An American Journey) and edited by Screen Scene’s Martha Meyler (Celebrity Salon, Operation Transformation).
‘The Boy in the Bubble’ is currently being developed for a feature-length 3D project, with writer Will Collins (Song of the Sea) on board.
