Irish Abroad: Brooklyn wins audience award at 38th Denver Film Festival

The 38th Denver Film Festival has finished in the Colorado city with the announcement of the festival’s award winners.The big winner was John Crowley’s wonderful emigration drama Brooklyn, which won the People’s Choice  Award for Narrative Feature.

Brooklyn is an adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s best-selling novel by the equally best-selling British author Nick Hornby. Set in the 1950s, the film sees a young woman move from a small town in Ireland to Brooklyn, where she has the opportunity for work, for a future and for love.

Intermission director Crowley has gathered an all-star Irish and British cast, that features Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walters. Brooklyn is an Irish/British co-production from Wildgaze Films, Finola Dwyer Productions, Parallel Films and Item 7, with co-finance from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board. It will be released in Irish cinemas on November 6th.

The festival featured over 250 films, representing 39 countries, with 17 titles coming from local Colorado talent. The 2015 festival attracted over 55,000 attendees during the 12-day celebration.

  • People’s Choice Narrative Feature: Brooklyn – John Crowley
  • People’s Choice Documentary Feature: The Champions – Darcy Dennett
  • People’s Choice Short Film: The House is Innocent – Nicolas Coles
  • People’s Choice Music Video: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats ‘S.O.B.’ – Greg Barnes
  • The Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary Film: Hitchcock/Truffaut – Kent Jones
  • The Krzysztof Kie?lowski Award for Best Feature Film: Rams – Grímur Hákonarson
  • Special Jury Prize: Lamb – Yared Zaleke
  • Special Ensemble Acting Jury Award: The Measure of a Man
  • The American Independent Narrative Award: Krisha – Trey Edward Shults
  • Special Jury Prize, Filmmaker to Watch: H. – Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia
  • The Liberty Global International Student Short Award: Disintegration – Álvaro Martín
  • Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Directing: The Fantastic Love of Beeboy and Flowergirl – Clemens Roth
  • The Spike Lee Student Filmmaker Award: Oasis – Sara Lafleur-Vetter
  • Feature Screenplay Award: Memory written by John Benge
  • Short Screenplay Award: Symposium written by Tom Grady
  • John Cassavetes Award: John Turturro
  • Maria & Tommaso Maglione Italian Filmmaker Award: Nanni Moretti
  • Reel Social Club Indie Spirit Award: Benjamin Dickinson
  • Rising Star Award: Alex Wolff
  • Stan Brakhage Vision Award: Nathaniel Dorsky
  • True Grit Award: Joseph Wartnerchaney