For 66 years, Cork International Film Festival has celebrated excellence in filmmaking, championing new and emerging voices, as well as established filmmakers, through its prestigious awards. Three of our awards – the Grand Prix Irish Short, the Grand Prix International Short and the Grand Prix Documentary Short – are Academy Award®-qualifying, ensuring that the winners in Cork will be automatically long-listed for the Oscars®.
Thank you to our Trophy Partner, Cork Crystal for supplying the beautiful awards.
SHORT AWARDS
We were delighted to announce the Short Awards winners in an online presentation on Thursday, 11th November 2021. You can catch up on the Awards Show on our YouTube page.
GRAND PRIX IRISH SHORT
Academy Award®-Qualifying Category
WINNER:
AN ENCOUNTER by Kelly Campbell
[Special Mention – FALL OF THE IBIS KING by Josh O’Caoimh & Mikai Geronimo]
Proudly presented by RTÉ Supporting the Arts
Jurors:
Peter Mackie Burns, Director
Nathan Fagan, Director
Nathan Fagan is an award-winning Irish writer and director. His short film, Flicker, won the Gran Prix Award at the Cork International Film Festival in 2020. It was subsequently nominated for an IFTA for Best Irish Short Film. He’s one half of directing duo, Luna (lunadirectorduo.com).
Dagmara Romanowska, Short Film Curator
Krakow Film Festival Short Fiction Film Curator. Film journalist, editor and publisher collaborating with the Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP), Onet.pl – one of the largest Polish web portals as well as several other Polish film and cultural magazines and websites, “Focus on Poland,” “Kino,” and Interia.pl included. Short Fiction Competition Director at Lato z Muzami – Summer with the Muses Film and Art Festival in Nowogard.
The winning film receives a prize of €1,500
Proudly presented by RTÉ Supporting the Arts
GRAND PRIX INTERNATIONAL SHORT
Academy Award®-Qualifying Category
Winner:
FIREFLIES (VAGALUMES) by Léo Bittencourt
Jurors:
Radka Weiserova, Pragueshorts Film Festival
In the early 2000s Radka worked for Karlovy Vary IFF in the Film Industry department and since 2008 as coordinator of KVIFF TALKs. She had cooperated on several projects of Institute of Documentary Film since 2003. Between 2007 and 2015 she organized Fresh Film Fest – IFF of First Features and Student Films. Currently she organizes and selects films for Prague Short Film Festival and manages her own project Cinergy.
Kirsten Ruber, Go Short Film Festival
Kirsten Ruber founded Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen in 2008 and has been developing the festival ever since. Go Short is the only exclusive Short Film Platform of the Netherlands and qualifies for Academy Awards, EFA and BAFTA’s. The 14th edition takes place from 6-10 April 2022 in Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands located with a vibrant student atmosphere. Throughout the year Go Short promotes and distributes short films to theatres and events and initiates several projects on talent development, film production and education. www.goshort.nl
Natalia Imaz, Producer/Director
Born in Spain but established in Germany since the late 90s, Natalia (she/her) holds a degree in Audiovisual Journalism and looks back at 20+ years of experience in film & TV in different positions in the areas of writing/directing and production. Today she produces under her own label, parabellum film, focusing on documentaries by women filmmakers, new talent and internationally-appealing stories at the intersection between history and (auto)biography, personal narratives and socio-political processes. Topics of her special interest include: family, identity and gender, migration and the diaspora gaze, feminism and womanhood, etc. Member of DAE – Documentary Association of Europe, EWA – European Women’s Audiovisual Network, and NdM – Neue deutsche Medienmacher*innen (New German Media Makers).
GRAND PRIX DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Academy Award®-Qualifying Category
Winner:
THE ETERNAL SPRINGTIME (MÙA XUÂN VĨNH CỬU) by Viêt Vū
[Special Mention – SOME KIND OF INTIMACY by Toby Bull]
BEST DIRECTOR: IRISH SHORT
Winner:
MISS D by Paddy Hayes
[Special Mention – FLASH_THUNDER93 by Reuben Harvey]
Supported by Screen Directors Guild Ireland
BEST CORK SHORT AWARD
Winner:
CLEANER by Edwin Mullane (Lesley Conroy credited as ‘Actor as Creator’)
[Special Mention – FOXGLOVE by Michael-David McKernan]
Proudly presented by Red FM
Cork International Film Festival is the official Irish representative for:
SHORT FILM CANDIDATE FOR THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2022
European Film Academy 2022 Short Film Nominee
WHEN I SMILE MY EYES CLOSE (ΌΤΑΝ ΓΕΛΆΩ ΚΛΕΊΝΟΥΝ ΤΑ ΜΆΤΙΑ ΜΟΥ)
by Daniel Bolda
AUDIENCE AWARD (SHORTS)
Chosen by you, the audience. Vote for your favourite short in person and online from across the Irish, International and Family Friendly programmes.
The Short Audience Award went to Seanie Barron: Only in Askeaton from director Michael Holly. “Seanie will be as pleased with this Cork Film Festival Audience Award for Short Film as I am! I would like to say a huge thank you to Michele Horrigan and Sean Lynch of Askeaton Contemporary Arts who commissioned and produced this short film as part of a series named “Only in Askeaton” about artists and creatives who have been a part of their annual artists residency programme. Also a huge thank you to the legend that is Seanie Barron, and the wonderful audience of the Cork International Film Festival,” said Michael Holly.
FEATURES AWARDS
Cork International Film Festival announced its annual awards for features at The Awards Gala at the Everyman Theatre in Cork on Friday, 12th November 2021.
GRADAM SPIORAD NA FÉILE (SPIRIT OF THE FESTIVAL AWARD)
Presented by The Gate Cinemas
The winner of the Gradam Spiorad na Féile (Spirit of The Festival Award), presented by The Gate Cinemas, was awarded to Blue Moon (Crai Nou), directed by Alina Grigore. In this compelling film Iona Chitu gives a mesmerising performance as a young woman driven to the brink by her oppressive family in Alina Grigore’s tension-filled debut.
Jurors:
Jakub Duszynski, Gutek Film Distribution
Jakub Duszynski, Artistic Director and Head of Acquisitions at Gutek Film, Poland’s leading art house distribution company, former Co-President of Europa Distribution and member of the LUX Prize Selection Panel, EFA member.
Dominique Green, Dinard Festival of British Cinema
Combining a career in film and photography in London and Paris Dominique Green is currently Artisitc Director of the Dinard Film Festival and Senior Tutor at the National Film & Television School. For 12 years Dominique was Berlin Film Festival Delegate for the UK and Ireland and during this time her other roles included: MD of Magnum Photos London; CEO of the award-winning charity PhotoVoice; Consultant with The American Center for Art & Culture in Paris.
Christine Molloy, Director
Christine Molloy co-writes and co-directs with Joe Lawlor. Between 2003 and 2010 they produced the CIVIC LIFE series of short films, including WHO KILLED BROWN OWL. HELEN, their award-winning debut feature, screened at over 50 film festivals worldwide including the Telluride Film Festival. It was released in 2009 and was nominated for an Evening Standard Film award and a Guardian First Film award. Their second feature, MISTER JOHN, was released by Artificial Eye in 2013. Their feature documentary, FURTHER BEYOND, premiered at DIFF in 2016. Their most recent film, ROSE PLAYS JULIE, is currently on release in the UK and Ireland.
GRADAM NA FÉILE DO SCANNÁIN FAISNÉISE (AWARD FOR CINEMATIC DOCUMENTARY)
The Gradam na Féile do Scannáin Faisnéise (Award for Cinematic Documentary) was awarded to This Rain Will Never Stop, directed by Ukrainian documentary filmmaker Alina Gorlova. The film follows a Kurdish Red Cross volunteer assisting others who are caught up in the military conflict in Ukraine. The result is a darkly atmospheric confrontation with war and its consequences. There was a special mention in this category for A Night of Knowing Nothing directed by Payal Kapadia.
Jurors:
Brigid O’Shea, Documentary Association of Europe
Brigid O’Shea has lived and worked in Germany and Europe since 2005. She started her career at the Berlin International Film Festival, where she worked for various departments including Berlinale Talents, Berlinale Co-Production Market and the EFM. She was the coordinator of the DOK Industry Programme from 2010 and was appointed head of DOK Industry in late 2014. She left this post in 2021 to establish the Documentary Association of Europe, to usher in a new generation of professionals and advocate on a pan-European level for documentary filmmakers. She has previously freelanced for many documentary institutions in Europe and also for production companies. She tutors across the globe on international co-financing and pitching as well as festival strategies and cultural management. She moderates and curates discussions and programmes on non-fiction filmmaking as an internationally-respected consultant with a wide and diverse network. Currently she serves on the advisory boards of B2B Doc and DMZ Docs.
Paul Duane, Director
Paul Duane has been making films for twenty years. In 2014 he was on Variety’s annual 10 Directors to Watch list. His films, which include Barbaric Genius, Best Before Death, Natan & Welcome To The Dark Ages, have received Grierson & IFTA nominations and have screened at festivals such as Edinburgh, Telluride, Lumiére & Pordenone. He also co-created the award-winning drama series Amber & Secret Diary of a Call Girl. His most recent film, The Dead Zoo, will premiere on RTE before the end of 2021.
Liz Chege, Africa in Motion
Liz Chege is a film curator and critic. She is a Berlinale Talent alumni and founding member of Come the Revolution, a collective of creatives and curators committed to exploring Black life, experience and cultural expression through cinema. She was programme producer of British Council’s “No Direct Flight” at British Film Institute’s Southbank, a cross-media exploration of global African diaspora moving-image makers that interrogated how the digital world has shaped culture and aesthetics. She is a curator for Cinema Rediscovered and worked as a freelance marketing specialist for filmmakers and distributors. Most recently, she was appointed festival director of Africa in Motion.
CORK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL YOUTH JURY AWARD
Selected from the Spirit of the Festival and Cinematic Documentary Awards. The jury comprises students from UCC, MTU and St John’s Central College.
The winner of the Cork International Film Festival Youth Jury Award was awarded to Women Do Cry, directed by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova. The Youth Jury Award is selected from the Spirit of the Festival and Cinematic Documentary Awards. The jury comprises students from UCC, MTU and St John’s Central College. There was a special mention in this category for Wood and Water directed by Jonas Bak.
AUDIENCE AWARD (FEATURES)
Chosen by you, the audience. All Festival features that have their Irish premiere in cinema or online are eligible for the award.
The 66th Cork International Film Festival Features Audience Award went to Lyra, directed by Alison Millar, which celebrated the life and work of journalist Lyra McKee. “My amazing team and I are absolutely thrilled to receive Cork International Film Festival’s very special Audience Award for our feature documentary, ‘Lyra’. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to vote. The film’s purpose was always to share Lyra McKee’s voice and words far and wide, and for the public to have voted for us to win such an incredible accolade within such a strong field means so much and will help to amplify Lyra’s work further,” said Alison Millar.
