Irish Film Festival London unveils 2023 award winners
Posted: 22nd November 2023
Irish Film & Television UK (IFTUK) announced the winners of the Irish Film Festival London at its annual award ceremony held at the Irish Embassy in London on 20th November 2023.
The festival’s opening night film was the Screen Ireland supported One Night in Millstreet, which won the Best Documentary award. The latest film from two-time Irish Film and Television Academy Award winner Andrew Gallimore, One Night in Millstreet provides a snapshot of a country on the edge of change, revealed through the legendary prize fight in 1995 between the underdog Steve ‘The Celtic Warrior’ Collins and undefeated world champion Chris ‘Simply the Best’ Eubank, a sporting event that would grip and shape an entire nation. Our sincere congratulations to Andrew Gallimore and the creative team behind the film on this win.
The festival included a Screen Ireland shorts programme showcasing the work of emerging Irish talent across the agency's Focus and Frameworks schemes. We are delighted to see Grace Dyas’s Waiting Day, which depicts a difficult day in the life of a jobless single mother, receive the Best Short Film award.
Additional awarded films on the night included Patricia Kelly’s debut feature Verdigris, which won the Best Feature Award. The film follows the unlikely friendship between an older woman in a loveless marriage, and a young sex worker.
Veteran filmmaker Joe Comerford was the recipient of The Súil Eile Award (Lifetime Achievement Award) acknowledging his outstanding contribution to the Irish film industry. As an independent filmmaker in Ireland, Joe Comerford has spent more than 50 years giving a voice to marginalised people in Irish society. The 2023 Director’s Cut of his classic film Reefer and the Model was restored through the IFI and Screen Ireland Digitisation Project and screened at the festival. An industry workshop reflecting his striking body of work was one of the highlights of the festival.
Ros Hubbard, world-renowned Irish Casting Director (The Commitments, the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Patron and Advisor of IFTUK sponsored two awards. The Ros Hubbard Award for Acting was awarded to Cork actress Alison Oliver (Five and a Half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania, Conversations with Friends) and Irish actor and filmmaker Éanna Hardwicke (Normal People, Lakelands).
The jury for the 2023 Irish Film Awards was headed by Festival Director Michael Hayden, and included Colm Bairéad and Cleona Ní Chrualaoí, the Director and Producer of An Cailín Ciúin, Anna Rodgers and Shaun Dunne, Director and Producer of How to Tell a Secret, Kelly Campbell, Director of An Encounter and IFTUK Board Members Peter Curran, Steven Greenfield and Tara Gaule.
The festival showcased an exciting programme of the latest Irish feature films, documentaries, animation and short films from 15th-19th November at the Vue West End, Vue Piccadilly and the London Irish Centre. Irish Film Festival London was proudly supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Tourism Ireland, Culture Ireland and the Century Club.