Irish Feature Film EAMON Scoops Important Independent Film Award at the Karlovy-Vary International Film Festival
The Irish feature film EAMON directed by Margaret Corkery has picked up the prestigious Independent Camera Award in the 44th Karlovy-Vary International Film Festival. The film screened in the competitive selection of the festival in the Forum of Independents programme.
Starring Darren Healy (LOVE IS THE DRUG, ONCE, SAVAGE) and new-comers Amy Kirwan and Robert Donnelly in the lead roles, EAMON is written and directed by Margaret Corkery under the CATALYST PROJECT feature film scheme. The film tells the story of Eamon, a little boy with behavioral problems and the destructive relationship of his parents and is produced by Seamus Byrne in Zanita Films.
Commenting on the film Ivana Novotna, Festival Programmer at Karlovy-Vary said “Margaret Corkery is a very talented and promising Irish filmmaker and we were very happy to screen her first author debut in the competitive section Forum of Independents. In her film she managed to unfold the story of three disparate characters in an unhurried tempo with minimal essential dialogue; everything important happens under the surface or inside the protagonists. The director leaves room for the viewer to ponder their motivations. Unostentatious and impressionistic, the film’s original outcome makes it worth watching to the very end.”
Director Margaret Corkery, who travelled back to the festival to pick up the award, said “We are absolutely thrilled that EAMON has received this prize at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. The festival is very impressive and audiences there really responded to the film. This award will mean a lot to the cast and crew who worked so hard on the film.”
Alan Maher, Production Executive, IFB said “Margaret is one of Ireland’s most distinctive and original emerging filmmakers. The aim of the Catalyst Project was to provide opportunities for new Irish directors with vision and passion to produce a feature film and this award is great recognition on the success of the scheme and the hard work and Margaret and Seamus put into this film.”
EAMON is Margaret Corkery’s much anticipated debut feature film. Her short films have won a wide range of international awards and have screened all over the world. In particular “Killing the Afternoon” 2005 (Winner Best Irish Short, Cork 2005; In competition Berlinale 2005) and “RTE, Dance on the Box, Joyride” 2006 won much critical acclaim and a variety of international awards. EAMON premiered at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival earlier this year, where Margaret was honoured as a rising star by the IFB Talent Spotlight Award.
CATALYST PROJECT was devised by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board, Screen Training Ireland, Filmbase, The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, TV3 and the Arts Council to mentor filmmakers in the art of low-budget filmmaking and fund successful participants to produce a feature film. The initiative takes as its inspiration recent Irish low budget films which have achieved major international success: John Carney's Once, which won the World Cinema Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007; Lenny Abrahamson's Adam and Paul which was selected for Panorama at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival; and Perry Ogden's Pavee Lackeen, which premiered in Critics Week at the Venice Film Festival, also in 2005.
Karlovy Vary IFF is one of the oldest and most important international film festivals in Central and Eastern Europe and will screen over 200 films from all corners of the globe. It is open to the public and is visited by thousands of cinemagoers.