And that's a wrap for CIFF 2024!
The 69th Cork International Film Festival wrapped up this week after 11 days of bringing the best in Irish and international film to Leeside.
More than 17,000 people attended more than 220 films and events during the festival which included numerous world and Irish premieres.
With the end of the Cork International Film Festival (CIFF) 2024 came the announcement of a slate of award-winners over the past weekend.
The Best New Irish Feature Award went to ‘Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story’ by Sinéad O’Shea.
Announced at the festival’s awards gala on Saturday, the jury commented: “It has been an honour to witness the incredible depth and diversity of talent emerging from Ireland. After much deliberation, we unanimously selected ‘Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story’ as this year’s winner.
“This film stands out for its masterful storytelling, which is both sensitive and evocative, offering a heartfelt yet humorous exploration of Edna O’Brien’s remarkable life and literary legacy.”
In the same category, the jury gave an honourable mention to ‘The Damned’, directed by Thordur Palsson.
The Spirit of the Festival Award for Best Film went to ‘The Village Next to Paradise’, directed by Mo Harawe. The jury said: “This European film, which was paradoxically the first Somali film selected for the Cannes Film Festival, offered an authentic, singular, and quietly powerful portrait of a Somalian family.”
An honourable mention was given to ‘The Imminent Age’ (l’Edat Imminent) by the Vigilia Collective.
The Spirit of the Festival Award for Best Screenplay went to Konstantina Kotzamani who wrote the screenplay for ‘Arcadia’. The jury said it was stunned by the film’s “complex and eclectic story that constantly pushes boundaries between life and death and raises the question of the mise en scene of the invisible”.
The award for Best Documentary went to ‘A Family’ (Une Famille) by Christine Angot. The jury commented: “For a raw and confrontational film, a personal intervention that confronts both the violence of the past and the present with the force of language.”
In the short film category, the Grand Prix Irish Short Award went to ‘Clodagh’ directed by Portia A. Buckley, while the Grand Prix International Short Award went to ‘Transylvanie’ directed by Rodrigue Huart.
The Best Cork Short award went to ‘Breakfast Roll’ directed by Remi Alfallah and Shannon Haly.
Next year, to mark its 70th edition, Cork International Film Festival has been selected for the presentation of the prestigious Audentia Award, in partnership with the Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund. Meaning ‘courage’ and ‘bravery’ in Latin, the Audentia Award was created to promote greater gender equality in the European film industry and includes a prize of €30,000 for a female filmmaker to invest in her next feature.
For a full list of Cork International Film Festival award winners, visit corkfilmfest.org.