The Screen Directors Guild of Ireland have awarded the Screen Director’s Guild Finders Series Award for 2016 to Risteard Ó Domhnaill’s exemplary documentary Atlantic.
This award, which is given in conjunction with the Directors Guild of America, will see Atlantic screened in the prestigious DGA Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, on June 17th. The screening will be attended American distributors, filmmakers, and key industry personnel, with the aim of securing a US distribution deal for the film.
The second feature documentary from acclaimed director Risteard O Domhnaill (The Pipe), Atlantic follows the fortunes of three small fishing communities in Norway, Newfoundland and Arranmore as they struggle to maintain their way of life in the face of mounting economic and ecological challenges, and looks at the threat posed to the ocean’s ecosystem and fishing communities by oil exploration and overfishing. This visually stunning new work, persuasively narrated by Brendan Gleeson, brings the personal stories in the vital resource debate to the fore to explore how these communities must learn from the past in order to secure a brighter future.
Risteard Ó Domhnaill is a director and cameraman based in the West of Ireland. Risteard was a student of Irish and History at the National University of Ireland, Galway and after completing a course in camera work, he moved back to County Mayo where he spent the next four years filming the protests over the Corrib Gas pipeline. The story focused on those at the centre of the opposition against Shell, many of whom he had known since he was young. His resulting feature film, The Pipe debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and enjoyed successful international distribution in over 20 countries. The Pipe lead Risteard to look at the politics of oil and gas prospects off the Irish coast and looking across the Atlantic to find that Ireland’s tale is not unique. What has since unfolded is an incredible story of resource mismanagement, explored by Risteard in his latest film Atlantic.
Now in its eleventh year the Finders Series Award has highlighted a host of great Irish cinema to international audiences, including John Butler’s The Stag, Tomm Moore’s The Secret of Kells, Frank Berry’s Ballymun Lullaby, Ian Power’s The Runway, and Ken Wadrop’s beautiful His & Hers, Terry McMahon’s hard-hitting Patrick’s Day, and most recently Mark Noonan’s You’re Ugly Too.