Subtitle European Film Festival has wrapped its inaugural event after a week of star-studded screenings and workshops, which saw the likes of multi Oscar-nominated director Jim Sheridan, IFTA-winning actress Amy Huberman and BAFTA-nominated actor Robert Sheehan all attend.
International films such as ‘Lapland Odyssey’ screened at the festival, which was co-produced by Ireland’s Ripple World Pictures. The Finnish comedy follows Lapland native Janne, who has made a career of living off welfare, and his two friends, as they set out on a journey in search of a digital TV box so Janne’s girlfriend won’t leave him. Director Dome Karukowski and Finnish actor Jasper Pääkkönen attended the festival.
‘Game of Thrones’ actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau also attended for the screening of his film ‘Headhunters’, which is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø. Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister in Irish-shot ‘Game of Thrones’, also picked up an Angela Award at the festival for his acting contribution to European cinema.
‘Tales From the Golden Age’, which was directed by various different directors, including Cristian Mungiu, who co-produced Irish documentary ‘Off The Beaten Track’ with Irish producer Siún Ní Raghallaigh, also screened over the seven-day event. The film contains six different films in one, focusing on the most popular urban myths that culminated from the Ceausescu regime. Themes include comic, bizarre and surprising myths.
Jim Sheridan attended the festival in Kilkenny |
‘Father Ted’ and ‘Shameless’ actress Pauline McLynn hosted the event, which ran from Monday November 19 until Sunday November 25 in Kilkenny.
Irish filmmakers such as Jim Sheridan and Robert Sheehan were on hand to present awards to international filmmakers. Sheridan presented awards to Sweden’s Lena Endre and Mikael Persbrandt in recognition of their contributions to European cinema.
‘Love/Hate’ actress Charlie Murphy also attended the awards giving ceremony, where Finnish directors Dome Karukoski and Aku Louhimies were honoured for their contribution to European cinema, as well as Dutch actor Robert de Hoog who picked up an award for his performance in ‘Skin’.
Festival directors Richard Cook and Holly Carey said of the first ever Subtitle Festival: “Subtitle's first year brought a strong programme and a stellar line up of European filmmaking and acting talent to Kilkenny. We hosted many of Europe’s leading talents over the weekend, celebrating their outstanding achievements at the inaugural Angela Awards, which turned out to be quite the event!”.
Festival organisers are already gearing up Subtitle 2013, with Cook and Carey adding: “There will be no shortage of talent and great movies for subtitle 2013.”
