Winners at the DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie awards ceremony held last night, April 7th in Dublin, included short film, ‘Babes in Bits’ produced by ‘Bibs Productions’ from IT Tallaght and online ‘Drinkaware Comic’, produced by T.J Fogarty and Roy Duggan from the Limerick Institute of Technology. Oscar nominated and IFTA winning filmmaker, Juanita Wilson made a key note speech at the event.
The gala awards ceremony saw the title of Best Film nabbed by ‘Babes in Bits’, produced by ‘Bibs Productions’ from IT Tallaght. The short also walked away as the winner of the online public vote for Best Film. Another project that scooped two awards is an online Drinkaware Comic produced by Limerick Institute of Technology’s T.J. Fogarty and Roy Duggan which won in the sections of Best Multimedia Project and the public vote for Best Multimedia Project.
IT Tallaght found further success in the group’s Best Film group, also nabbing the runner-up spot in the section with ‘The Conversation’, produced by ‘Delay No More Productions’ from IT Tallaght. Finally, Catharina Demmel and Sophie Douala from the Dublin Institute of Technology saw their i-phone game, ‘Do You Know’ awarded runner-up place in the Best Multimedia Project section. Each category-winner won €1,000 in prize money, with the runners up in ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Multimedia Project’ winning €500.
Fionnuala Sheehan, Chief Executive of drinkaware.ie commented on the introduction of a multimedia category in this year’s competition, saying: “In contrast to other mediums, the multimedia entries are interactive, meaning the viewer connects with the issues being highlighted in a different way,” she noted. “This year’s entries show that Irish students are becoming increasingly adept at using digital media tools to tell a story or bring home a message. Indeed, all of the shortlisted entries – both film and multimedia – have approached the competition in an innovative and original way, with shortlisted films using props such as bathroom mirrors, pin-boards collages and fictional phone apps to highlight the consequences of excessive drinking.”
The winners of the competition’s six categories were announced in Dublin’s Wood Quay on Thursday, April 7th following a key note speech from ‘As If I Am Not There’, writer and director, Juanita Wilson. She praised the aim of the event, saying: ”It’s great to encourage young people to tackle difficult and challenging subjects, especially one so close to all our lives. I doubt there is anyone in Ireland who has not been touched adversely by the effects of alcohol abuse. I watched the shortlisted entries with great interest and look forward to seeing what subjects they choose to tackle next.”
Now in its 4th year, DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie is a competition for film and multimedia students, aimed at highlighting young people’s attitudes to alcohol. The competition is sponsored by drinkaware.ie and organised by the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA). The winning film and multimedia projects were judged by a panel comprised of RTÉ and Lyric FM presenter John Kelly; SiliconRepublic.com editor John Kennedy; Ross Whittaker, Editor of Film Ireland; Alicia McGivern, Head of Education at the Irish Film Institute; Rebecca Murphy, Union of Students in Ireland; and representatives from drinkaware.ie and The Digital Hub.
This year’s winning films and multimedia projects – and all shortlisted entries for the 2011 DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie competition – are available to view on www.DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie.
