Tile Films’ feature ‘Saving the Titanic’ was awarded the Gold World Medal for best docudrama at the New York Festivals International Television & Film awards, which were held at a ceremony at NAB in Las Vegas.
Nominated for four IFTA awards earlier this year, ‘Saving the Titanic’ has enjoyed massive success on the international stage and shows no signs of slowing down.
Producer Stephen Rooke, just returned from MIPTV 2013 in Cannes, told IFTN of his excitement at the latest news.
‘We're absolutely thrilled to receive this award. For a small Irish production company like ourselves to win a Gold World Medal Award at the New York Festivals is a major achievement. It again proves that Irish films can punch above their weight on the international stage,’ he said.
The film's IFTA award-winning director Maurice Sweeney was similarly enthusiastic about the latest honour.
‘As a director, this is wonderful. With the budget we had, I felt that we told a great story with a big production value. It was a wonderful ensemble cast helped by great writers and a brilliant Irish crew. So it's a real acknowledgement of the talent in this country,’ he added.
‘Saving the Titanic’ has also been nominated for four awards at the British Independent Film Festival, including Best Director (Maurice Sweeney); Best Cinematography (Richard Kendrick); Best Supporting Actor (Ciaran McMenamin); and Best Feature Film (Stephen Rooke).
It also won the Award of Excellence for a feature film at the Accolade Competition in California and has been nominated for Best Feature-length drama at the Celtic Media Festival, which be held in Swansea on 24–26 April.
The film has so far been broadcast in Ireland, the UK, the US, Canada, Germany, Austria and France and been watched by an estimated 10 million people.
‘Saving the Titanic’ is a co-production between Tile Films in Dublin and Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion in Germany, in association with the Irish Film Board, RTE, the BAI’s Sound and Vision fund, Windmill Lane Pictures, Section 481, AETN/History UK, ZDF and ZDFE Enterprises.
