Irish writer and director Ciarán Foy has spoken of his delight after his debut film ‘Citadel’ picked up an audience award at the SXSW international film and music festival in Austin, Texas last weekend.
The psychological horror film, an Irish-Scottish co-production from Dublin’s Bl!nder Films and Glasgow’s Sigma Films, was one of five Irish works screened at the festival with ‘Dollhouse’, ‘Dreams Of A Life’, ‘Foxes’ and ‘Joy’ also in the line-up.
Speaking after his win, Foy said: “Between the great reviews and the epic audience reaction to ‘Citadel’, I'm genuinely stunned and humbled.
“It'll take a while for it all to sink in, but I'm so thankful to SXSW and I can't think of a way that the festival could have gone any better."
The film's producers Katie Holly of Bl!nder Films and Brian Coffey of Sigma Films added: "All at Bl!nder Films and Sigma Films are delighted with the news.To win an audience award, particularly at SXSW where audiences are sophisticated and can be hard-to please, is immensely satisfying and we hope their approval is indicative of the future success of the film around the world."
‘Citadel’ is Foy’s debut feature film. A graduate from the National Film School of Ireland, his short film ‘The Faeries of Blackheath Woods’ won nine best short film awards at international festivals.
The film, funded by the Irish Film Board, Creative Scotland, section 481 and UK tax credit, tells of an agoraphobic father who enlists a priest to save his daughter from a gang of twisted children.
It features Aneurin Barnard (We'll Take Manhattan) in the lead role of Tommy, alongside James Cosmo (Braveheart, Troy) and Wunmi Mosuka (I am Slave).
Watch the trailer here:
CITADEL trailer from Bl!nder Films on Vimeo.
