The Audi Dublin International Film Festival 2018 has announced the award winners from the Shorts Jury, the Discovery Award Jury, the Jury of the Dublin Film Critics Circle and the Fantastic Flix Children’s Jury.
At an awards ceremony at the Light House Cinema the three joint winners of the ADIFF Discovery Award were announced as Mia Mullarkey (Mother & Baby), Rua Meegan & Trevor Whelan (Bordalo II: A Life of Waste), and TJ O’Grady Peyton (Wave). The winner of the Jury Prize for Best Irish Short Film was Mia Mullarkey for Mother & Baby. Best International Short Film was awarded to Iranian director Kaveh Mazaheri’s Retouch. The winner of the AUDI-ence Short Film Award was Steve Kenny’s Time Traveller. The ceremony was supported by Moët & Chandon.
Discovery Winners Trevor Whelan, Mia Mullarkey, Rua Meegan, TJ O’Grady PeytonThe ADIFF Discovery Award and the Short Film awards aim to identify, champion and support new and emerging talent from both in front of and behind the camera. The ADIFF Feature AUDI-ence Award will be announced after the conclusion of screenings rescheduled due to the severe weather.
The Dublin Film Critics Circle ADIFF Awards Ceremony saw the Jury select the best eligible films from the Festival line up for the 11th consecutive year. The awards were supported by Limelight Communications for the second year running. Xavier Legrand’s Custody won DFCC Best Film and key Irish awards included DFCC Best Irish Film for Feargal Ward’s The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid, DFCC Best Irish Director for Rebecca Daly (Good Favour) and The George Byrne Maverick Award for Stephen Rea (Black 47). A full list of winners appears below.
I’d really like to thank Tadhg O’Sullivan who contributed so much to this project. Anybody familiar with his work will easily spot his poetic influence throughout this film. I would also like to thank Sarah Dillon in the Irish Film Board who has been a huge champion of the kind of films that myself and Tadhg have been making these last years. We really are indebted to her and the great staff in the IFB.
Feargal Ward, Director – The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid
This important story has been told with great dedication, vision and skill by director Feargal Ward, who shot the entire film himself to an amazingly high standard. The Lonely Battle Of Thomas Reid is the latest chapter in Feargal’s powerful creative partnership with editor and sound designer Tadhg O’Sullivan. Irish documentary is in a great place at the moment – I was impressed with the quality and creativity of the Irish docs that I saw at ADIFF so to be singled out by the Dublin Critics Circle was tremendous. To be chosen as the Best Irish Film above both the Irish docs and dramas was really wonderful. Many thanks to the Dublin Critics Circle and also to Gráinne Humphreys, ADIFF’s director for programming the film.
Luke McManus, Producer -The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid
The Fantastic Flix Children’s Jury, made up of The Ark’s Children’s Council in partnership with IFCO, awarded Best Feature to Room 213 and Best Short to Earthy Encounters. Fantastic Flix is proudly sponsored by Cheestrings.
We’re delighted to honour no fewer than four female filmmakers and a female cinematographer at this year’s awards. That we did so without quotas reflects a diverse programme and a slowly changing industry landscape. How fitting in the year of ‘me too’ and ‘times up’.
Tara Brady, President – Dublin Film Critics Circle
It’s an honour to be part of the jury who get the privilege to select the winners of the Discovery Award, as not only do we get a chance to view such amazing work, but we also get the opportunity to watch these individuals grow within their respective fields and past winners have shown we are making great progress as an emerging film industry, and long may it continue. To see TJ emerge as not only an amazing director, but also an inspiring actor in Wave is commendable and we look forward to his future roles. Mia Mullarkey’s documentaries are hard-hitting, poetic and powerful and really capture the emotion of the strong subjects she chooses. It’s a joy to see Rua Meegan and Trevor Whelan step up and show their true talents as both directors and cinematographers with such an amazing project as Bordalo II: A Life of Waste.
Jason Foran, Chair – Discovery Award Jury
Personally I found it very difficult to choose from the very fine range of films selected by Gráinne, Liam and Sarah and I want to congratulate all of the filmmakers whose work was included in the Irish and International Shorts programmes. Mother & Baby had a visceral impact on me and gives voice to those who have had none, while drawing us into its steady, strong gaze. It’s still with me and will stay with for a very long time, I think. Retouch is a deftly-made and beautifully-performed piece of work with a lovely vein of mordant humour running through it.
Nick Costello, Juror – Short Film Award Jury
Dublin Film Critics Awards
DFCC BEST FILM – Custody
DFCC BEST DIRECTOR Chloé Zhao, The Rider
DFCC BEST IRISH DIRECTOR Rebecca Daly, Good Favour
DFCC BEST SCREENPLAY Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
DFCC BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Monika Lenczewska, Under the Tree
DFCC BEST ACTOR Charlie Plummer, Lean on Pete
DFCC BEST ACTRESS Charlotte Rampling, Hannah
DFCC BEST DOCUMENTARY So Help Me God
DFCC BEST IRISH FILM The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid
DFCC MICHAEL DWYER DISCOVERY AWARD Coralie Fargeat, Revenge
DFCC GEORGE BYRNE MAVERICK AWARD Stephen Rea – Black 47
DFCC EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT Bill Morrison, Dawson City: Frozen Time
DFCC JURY PRIZE Warwick Thornton, Sweet Country
DFCC JURY PRIZE Kathleen Hepburn, Never Steady, Never Still
DFCC JURY PRIZE Jian Liu, Have a Nice Day
DFCC JURY PRIZE Ryan Killackey, Yasuni Man
ADIFF Discovery Award Winners: Mia Mullarkey (Mother & Baby), Rua Meegan & Trevor Whelan (Bordalo II: A Life of Waste), and TJ O’Grady Peyton (Wave). Special Mention: Jessie Buckley.
ADIFF Short Film Awards:
Best Irish Short Film: Mother & Baby
Special Mention Irish Short Film: Time Traveller
Best International Short Film: Retouch
Special Mention International Short Film: Mary Mother
AUDI-ence Short Film Award: Time Traveller.
Fantastic Flix Children’s Jury Awards
Best Feature – Room 213
Best Short – Earthy Encounters
The Children’s Jury is made up of The Ark’s Children’s Council in partnership with IFCO. Fantastic Flix is proudly sponsored by Cheestrings.
Jury Members
DFCC Jury: Brogen Hayes (movies.ie), Cara O’Doherty (Evening Echo), Chris Wasser (Herald), Daniel Anderson, David Turpin (No More Workhorse), Donald Clarke (Irish Times), Gavin Burke (entertainment.ie), John Maguire (Sunday Business Post), Nicola Timmins (Average Film Reviews), Paul Whitington (Irish Independent), and Tara Brady (Irish Times).
Short Film Award Jury: Geoff Fitzpatrick, Founder & MD of Orb Digital Out of Home; Nick Costello Sr. Publicity and Marketing Manager, Warner Bros. Pictures Ireland; Orla Brady, Actor and Sharon Badal, Vice President of Filmmaker Relations and Shorts Programming for Tribeca Film Festival.
Discovery Award Jury: Jason Foran (Chair), Producer; Alan Moloney, Producer; Niamh Algar, Actor; Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Producer; Emer Reynolds, Director.