With a first year under new management officially under its belt as of Sunday November 17th's closing ceremony, it would seem that any doubts concerning the creative direction of the 58th Cork International Film Festival have been firmly put to bed.
Though certainly reflecting an awareness of box office trends in screenings of films such as Ridley Scott's 'The Counselor', the past week has seen the festival retain its reputation for presenting an eclectic line-up offering both independent arthouse and more internationally commercial film equal footing.
Not least among Cork International Film Festival's mission statement has always the commitment to showcasing the best of short film on offer from both Irish and international artists.
As such, IFTN takes a look at the results from Shorts@CFF, the sub-festival run in conjunction with the main event proceedings from Wednesday November 13th - Saturday 16th. Sponsored by video-hosting site Vimeo, Shorts@CFF featured a diverse mixture of shorts competing for various prize categories aimed at local, national, and international productions.
On the Irish front, the €500 Grand Prix Cork Prize went to tense kidnapping short 'Stolen', from first-time writer/director Yvonne Keane. Adding to an ever-growing list of accolades, Eoin Duffy's 'The Missing Scarf' picked up the €1,500 cash prize for the Grand Prix Irish Award, with two more shorts receiving special mentions from the festival - the Dylan Moran-starring 'Breakfast Wine', directed by Ian Fitzgibbon, as well as the dark short 'Mechanic', directed by Tom Sullivan and Feidlim Cannon.
The Grand Prix International Award went to director Martin Rath for his Poland-set hitchhiker tale 'Arena', described as "threateningly ambiguous" from beginning to end by the international jury.
Also on the international stage, Cork International Film Festival retains the qualification to nominate a short film for the European Film Film Awards due to take place in 2014. After lengthy consideration, the international jury consisting of Anthony Haughey, Kate Taylor and Catherine Tiernan awarded the nomination to Spanish short "Little Block of Cement With Dishevelled Hair Containing The Sea". From director Jorge Lopez Nacarrete, the film was praised as "a neat slice of visionary cinema" with "great animal performances."
For further award news or more information on the Cork International Film Festival, which closed on Sunday November 17th with a screening of the Daniel Radcliffe-starring 'Kill Your Darlings', visit the festival website.
