Earlier today (June 24th) the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) presented the Foras na Gaelige Award to Irish director and producer Tom Collins. The award was given in recognition of his Outstanding Contribution in the Irish language in Film and TV.
Hailed for his Irish language films Kings (2007) and the award winning film Hush-a-Bye-Baby (1992), most recently Collins has had enormous success with the award-winning Irish noir crime drama An Bronntanas, which was adapted for a five part thriller series for TG4 that has now been picked up by French distributor Lagardère Entertainment. The film version was also selected to be Ireland’s representative for the Best Foreign Language Feature Academy Award.
Directed by Collins and starring Dara Devaney (Na Cloigne), Owen McDonnell (Single Handed) and John Finn (Cold Case), An Bronntanas tells the story of the crew of a local independent lifeboat in Connemara who find over a million euro worth of drugs on an abandoned fishing boat.
[quote title=”Tom Collins”]It is great to be honoured by The Screen Directors Guild of Ireland. Thanks to Stuart Carolan for presenting the award as without doubt he, through Love/Hate, has changed the face of Irish TV drama. While my own Irish skills are not as good as they should be, I enjoyed directing Aimhairghin, Kings, and An Bronntanas, although the real work has been accomplished by those who tried to teach me Irish over the years, from irate Christian Brothers to patient commissioning editors, fellow film makers and some confused actors. For me it’s all about the work, which is about creating a reflection of a modern Irish cultural identity, that can travel beyond borders, history and these shores.[/quote]
Love/Hate writer Stuart Carolan presented the award to Collins at Filmbase at 12.45pm with SDGI Director Birch Hamilton also in attendance.
[quote title=”Birch Hamilton – Director, SDGI”]It’s wonderful to present this award to Tom Collins for his outstanding efforts in Irish Language. He started his career in TG4 and has now become one of the finest directing talents in Ireland.[/quote]
[quote title=”Anna Davitt – Communications and Marketing Programme Manager, Foras na Gaeilge”]Foras na Gaeilge would like to publicly acknowledge the enormous contribution Tom Collins has made to the Irish language film and television sector and the recognition his Irish language films and series have received outside Ireland.[/quote]
Previous winners of the award include Louis Marcus (Oscar Nominated director 1798 agus O’Shin, Famine) and Colm Bairead (director of Lorg nag Cos: Súil Siar ar Mise Éire, Screwed).