Solas Nua has announced the 2024 Capital Irish Film Festival Audience Awards based on filmgoers’ feedback and reviews from the screenings at the 18th edition of the festival.
Capital Irish Film Festival has awarded Lies We Tell and Two For The Road the Best Irish Feature and Best Irish Short Audience Awards. Both films have been nominated for IFTAs at the upcoming Irish Film & Television Awards.
Best Irish Feature: Lies We Tell
Lisa Mulcahy’s Lies We Tell (Best Cinematography in an Irish Feature, Galway Fleadh 2023 and the 2023 Bingham Ray New Talent Award for lead actor, Agnes O'Casey), opened the 2024 festival. This award-winning psychological thriller was adapted by Elisabeth Gooch from the Sheridan Le Fanu novel, Uncle Silas.
Following the screening there was a Q&A with director Lisa Mulcahy, screenwriter Elisabeth Gooch, and Sky Sitney, professor at the Film and Media Studies Program at Georgetown University and Co-Founder & Festival Director, DC/DOX.
Lies We Tell was developed through Screen Ireland's POV film production and training scheme for female talent, established in 2018 to address gender parity in the Irish screen industry by supporting and enabling women-led film productions.
The audience response was as follows: "Lies We Tell looks like a prestigious British period drama that cost millions. It was phenomenal.”
"The opener (Lies We Tell) was a winner and an excellent choice to kick it all off."
On learning of the award, Elisabeth Gooch shared: "Thank you so much for this incredible honour. It was an absolute delight to share Lies We Tell with such a wonderful, engaged audience in the spectacular AFI Silver cinema - and the thoughtful Q&A and conversations afterwards made the evening even more special!"
For IFTN's interview with Lisa Mulcahy about the making of Lies We Tell click here.
Best Irish Short: Two For The Road
The 2024 Capital Irish Film Festival Short Audience Award goes to Two For The Road which was screened as part of the festival’s third shorts program dedicated to films funded by Screen Ireland. Lochlainn McKenna's Oscar-qualifying short film explores life through the eyes of 10-year-old Oscar as he navigates a weekend of adventure, fun, and chaos with his Dad, Hugh. This drama was adapted from McKenna's award-winning memoir of his childhood entitled Guinness and Coke, (RTÉ Francis McManus Short Story competition) and features newcomer Ewan Harris as Oscar and Steve Wall as Hugh.
Two For The Road was awarded funding through Screen Ireland's Focus Shorts scheme which supports the making of live-action and fiction films that act as a proving ground for Irish creative talents aspiring to write, direct, and produce films for the cinema. Written and directed by Lochlainn McKenna, the film was produced by Gráinne Dwyer and Natalie Britton for Heritage. The audience had this to say about the film: "Fantastic story. Tight script. Excellent production and tender and sensitive performances. Memorable."
"Deceptively complex story, rendered beautifully by two fantastic and believable performances."
On learning of the CIFF audience award, Lochlainn McKenna shared: "We are absolutely thrilled to accept the Audience Award for Best Short Film from the Capital Irish Film Festival, what an honour! Audience awards hold a really special place in my heart; to have connected with an American audience in this kind of way really means the world to me - thank you.”
“This film is deeply personal to me and the greatest highlight of this entire process has been seeing how many people have connected with the film on a deeply emotional level and seeing audiences connect with Oscar and Hugh and their relationship. Or, to put it another way, connected with the chaos of my relationship with my Dad.”
For IFTN's interview with Lochlainn McKenna about the making of Two For The Road click here.
The 2024 Solas Nua Capital Irish Film Festival took place February 29th - March 3rd, 2024, in partnership with AFI Silver at the AFI Silver Theatre & Cultural Center. The festival presented 18 film titles (10 features and 8 shorts) funded by Screen Ireland and 10 film titles (4 features and 6 shorts) funded by Northern Ireland Screen.
The Capital Irish Film Festival is supported by the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme, Culture Ireland, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Embassy of Ireland, Northern Ireland Bureau, Northern Ireland Screen, and the Irish Film Institute’s IFI International Programme supported by Culture Ireland. Solas Nua is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.
