Congratulations to all our winners this year!
Winner of the Short Film Competition was Good Girls, written and directed by Niamh McKeown and produced by Jack Cowhig. A film about Pinkman’s finest student and head girl, Bonnie, who takes us on a tour of her school as she tries to round up the school captains in time for the school photo. The judges said that they were smiling throughout the film and each scene was perfectly executed.
The Short Documentary Film Competition sponsored by Doubleband Films was won by Nomad directed by Zoe Tweedy, a documentary about a retired rider and transgendered woman nestled in the Canadian countryside. The judges praised the filmmaking and also the very sensitive and mature way it told a unique story
The Maysles’ Brothers Competition, named in honour of legendary documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles, was awarded to the Chinese documentary ‘Still Tomorrow’ directed by Jian Fan. The jury were taken by the film’s heartfelt and poetic portrayal of female poet Xiuhua Yu and described it as a beautiful and culturally edifying piece.
The Black Owl Award is awarded to the best new release within our Altered States programme. The award this year was won by Good Manners, a genre defying film which explores themes of motherhood and the outsider in society in a uniquely unexpected way, directed by Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra.
The Audience Award went to The Divine Order which was directed by Petra Biondina Volpe. The film centres around, the story of a young housewife who challenges the status quo by fighting for women’s suffrage in 1971 Switzerland. We were delighted to have the Swiss Honoury Consul Swiss Honoury Consul Franziska Hewitt join us and introduce the film. Franziska said of the film, it captures the traditional conservative world of rural Switzerland. Like most, if not all countries Switzerland has a lot of work to do in terms of gender equality, however it has also moved on in many respects, changing legislation and creating institutions to promote gender equality.
Finally the winner of Cinemasports, where teams have only 10 hours to make a short film was won by team ‘Oh F***’ with their film ‘100% pbc’. Special commendation was given to Back Like Before a sentimental and humorous film about a mother’s final wish for her daughters. The team behind this included Cathy Brennan Bradley, Julie Kinsella, Adam Bradley and Graeme Denny.