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DUBLIN 2022 Awards

The Quiet Girl and Vortex triumph at this year’s Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival

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- Colm Bairéad’s coming-of-age drama has won the Award for Best Irish Feature, whilst Gaspar Noé’s latest effort was crowned Best Film

The Quiet Girl and Vortex triumph at this year’s Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival
The cast and crew of The Quiet Girl (actor Michael Patrick, producer Cleona Ní Chrualaoi, director Colm Bairéad, actresses Carrie Crowley and Catherine Clinch, and actor Andrew Bennett) together with Irish Minister of Culture Catherine Martin TD on the opening night of the festival (© VMDIFF)

It’s a wrap for the 2022 edition of the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival, one of Ireland’s most prestigious film events. This year, the festival unspooled from 23 February-6 March. The event saw the triumph of Gaspar Noé’s latest effort, Vortex [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, crowned Best Film, and Colm Bairéad’s touching coming-of-age drama The Quiet Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Colm Bairéad
film profile
]
, which premiered at the Berlinale last month and won the Award for Best Irish Feature.

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Vortex, named Best Film by the Dublin Film Critics Circle (DFCC) and premiered at Cannes last year, is a three-character drama about death and mourning, starring Dario Argento, Françoise Lebrun and Alex Lutz in the leading roles. Meanwhile, the jury’s supporting statement highlighted the qualities of Bairéad’s feature, describing it as “a masterful character study that has rightly won international recognition”, which “is putting Irish cinema on the map in a unique and individual way, using our native language to tell stories with sensitivity and cinematic craft that moved us all”.

Speaking about this year’s edition, Gráinne Humphreys, the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival’s director, said: “There has been an extra-special intensity to the audience responses to the screenings at this year’s festival. From the tears flowing after our opening-night film The Quiet Girl to the laughter of our comedy strand – including Róise & Frank and The Good Boss [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, amongst others – to the emotional drain of Gaspar Noé’s Vortex to the nerve-shredding horrors You Are Not My Mother and The Feast [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
... It has been a roller-coaster! I must pay credit to the tireless festival team, who have worked so hard to bring this year’s film show to life, to the filmmakers whose work we have been celebrating, and to the audiences who have joined us. We are tired but very happy.”

Here is a list of this year’s award winners:

Best Film
Vortex [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Gaspar Noé (France/Belgium/Monaco)

Best Actress
Anamaria Vartolomei – Happening [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anamaria Vartolomei
film profile
]
(France)

Best Actor
Udo Kier – Swan Song (USA)

Best Screenplay
Terence Davies – Benediction [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(UK)

Best Editor
Sean Baker – Red Rocket (USA)

Best Director
Laura Samani – Small Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Samani
film profile
]
(Italy/France/Slovenia)

Best Documentary
Maisie – Lee Cooper (UK)

Best Irish Documentary
Vicky – Jono McLeod (Ireland)

Best Irish Feature
The Quiet Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Colm Bairéad
film profile
]
– Colm Bairéad (Ireland)

Sue Bruce-Smith Award for Best Irish Short
An Encounter – Kelly Campbell – (Ireland)
Special Mention
Don’t Go Where I Can’t Find You – Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair (Ireland)

Best International Short
Stiletto – A Pink Family Tragedy – Can Merdan Doğan (Turkey/Germany)
Special Mentions
In Flow of Words – Elaine Esther Bots (Netherlands)
Store Policy – Sarah Arnold (France)

Aer Lingus Discovery Award
Colm Bairéad – The Quiet Girl
Kate Dolan – You Are Not My Mother (Ireland)
Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair – Don’t Go Where I Can’t Find You (short)

ICCL Human Rights Film Award
Young Plato – Neasa Ní Chianáin and Declan McGrath (UK/Ireland/France/Belgium)
Hive [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Blerta Basholli
interview: Yllka Gashi
film profile
]
– Blerta Basholli (Kosovo/Switzerland/North Macedonia/Albania)

Best Cinematography
Frédéric Noirhomme – Playground [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Wandel
film profile
]
(Belgium)

Best Ensemble
Róise & Frank – Rachael Moriarty and Peter Murphy (Ireland)

George Byrne Maverick Award
Tristan Heanue – Harvest (Ireland)

Michael Dwyer Discovery Award
Kelly Campbell – An Encounter (short)

Special Jury Prize
Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
– Mads Hedegaard (Denmark)

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