NEW IRISH TALENT TAKES TOP HONOURS AT GALWAY FLEADH
SMALL ENGINE REPAIR, directed by Niall Heery, scooped the award for Best First Film at the Galway Film Fleadh this weekend.Heery's heart-warming debut film is a comedy drama about a man who goes from small town zero to country and western musical hero. SMALL ENGINE REPAIR was produced by Subotica Films with funding from the Irish Film Board and the NIFTC. International sales are being handled by Moviehouse Entertainment.
Irish Film Board funded shorts also picked up a number of awards at the Fleadh. JOYRIDERS, a beautifully directed piece by Rebecca Daly about a young girl overcoming the loss of her father, picked up the prize for Best First Short Film. Scripted by Daly and Glenn Montgomery, and produced by Rachel Lysaght, JOYRIDERS was commissioned under the Short Cuts scheme funded by the Irish Film Board and RTE. THE WHITE DRESS directed by Vanessa Gildea and produced David Lawless as part of the Irish Film Board Short Shorts scheme, won the second prize in this category.
The top prize for animation went to Eoin Ryan’s DEMON which was produced by Seamus Byrneas and Alan Shannon’s BADLY DRAWN ROY, produced by Mark Cumberton and Iseult Ó’Siocháin was awarded the second prize in this category. Both shorts were produced as part of the successful Frameworks scheme funded by the Irish Film Board, the Arts Council and RTE. Mattew Darragh’s humourous short PILGRIM, featuring a fridge trying to survive in the desert, received a Special Commendation. PILGRIM was produced as an Irish Film Board Short Short by Monster Animation and Design.