The annual festival screened a range of short films, feature films and documentaries from October 27th-30th at the old post office and the newly refurbished Courthouse in Clones, Co. Monaghan.
The opening night saw Oscar-winning Ben Cleary’s ‘Stutterer’ screen alongside two other shorts showcasing local talent in the county, ‘The Boring Diary of Frances Noone’ directed by Cara Holmes and ‘Park Life’ from Lee McMahon.
The vibrant mix of films in the programme also included documentary ‘As Radharc na Súl’, based on the real-life murders of Newtownbutler in 1972, which screened to a full house. Following this producer Deaglán Ó Mocháin, historian Brian MacDomhnaill and brother of a victim James Naan participated in an engaging Q&A session with the audience.
Other documentaries included ‘Bobby Sands: 66 Days’ (Brendan J, Byrne), Risteard O Domhnaill's ‘Atlantic’, both of which have earned acclaim this year for their inquisitive yet poignant approach.
Hit Irish comedy ‘The Young Offenders’ also screened meanwhile, also with its producer (Julie Ryan) in attendance to discuss the project and the real-life inspiration behind the hilarious road movie. Having hit the €1M mark at the Irish box office just last month, it is leading the way as one of the most successful feature films of the year.
In foreign language films, Grimur Hakonarson's ‘Rams’ and Gamze Erguven's ‘Mustang’ screened alongside the bittersweet ‘Viva’ from Irish talent Paddy Breathnach. Other big screeners over the weekend included French animation ‘Zarafa’ which catered to families, as did ‘The Boxtrolls’ directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi.
Award Winners
Judges this year were Brendan Ó Caoláin lecturer in Film Studies at Griffith College, video editor Jackie Jarvis, and director Patrick McDermott.
- Fiction/Experimental: ‘Pebbles’ (Jonathan Short)
- Short Documentary: ‘Sean Hillen: Merging Views’ (Paddy Cahill)
- 48 Hour Short Film: ‘Bad Television’ (Seamas Machlochlainn)
- Audience Award: ‘Emergency Stop’ (Diane Jessie Miller)
