Yesterday, the 64th edition of the Cork Film Festival was brought to a close by the awards ceremony hosted by Dave Mac Ardle and held at the historic Everyman Theatre on MacCurtain Street. This year, the prestigious Spirit of the Festival Award went to Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ debut feature, Swallow [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película]. This US-French co-production depicts the struggle of a young housewife and the increasing pressures to achieve perfection, as she begins to consume dangerous items in an attempt to take back control. Meanwhile, the Audience Award went to Aoife Crehan’s Irish dramedy The Last Right, and Feras Fayyad’s The Cave [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película] snagged two prizes – namely, the Award for Cinematic Documentary and the Cork Film Festival Youth Jury Award. Fayyad’s documentary is a harrowing account of one woman’s efforts to provide medical care in war-torn Syria.

Moreover, the event is Ireland’s only film festival to present three Academy Awards-qualifying prizes. Anna Gawlita’s documentary short Horse Riders won the inaugural Academy Awards-qualifying Grand Prix Documentary Short Award, while further Oscar-qualifying accolades were bestowed upon Tristan Heanue’s family drama Ciúnas (Silence) (recipient of the Grand Prix Irish Short Award) and Christopher Andrews’ thriller Stalker (winner of the Grand Prix International Short Award).

Speaking about this year’s edition, CEO Fiona Clark said: “It has been an exciting, thought-provoking and inspiring 11 days of stunning film here in Cork. The breadth and quality of the programme, with over 300 films and 63 countries represented, has made this year’s festival an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. With 20,000 people attending this year’s gathering, we look forward to building on this success in 2020, our 65th anniversary, and beyond.”

The Cork Film Festival was supported by the Arts Council, along with Cork City Council, film agency Screen Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, Screen Skills Ireland, Culture Ireland, Creative Ireland, Fundraising Fellowship Ireland, the ESB Energy for Generations Fund and Creative Europe Media.

Here is the complete list of award winners:

Grand Prix Irish Short Award
Ciúnas (Silence) - Tristan Heanue (Ireland)

Grand Prix International Short Award
Stalker - Christopher Andrews (UK)

Grand Prix Documentary Short Award
Horse Riders - Anna Gawlita (Poland)

Audience Award
The Last Right - Aoife Crehan (Ireland)

Award for Cinematic Documentary
The Cave [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película] - Feras Fayyad (Syria/Denmark/Germany/Qatar/USA)

Spirit of the Festival Award
Swallow [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película] - Carlo Mirabella-Davis (USA/France)

Cork Film Festival Candidate for the European Film Awards 2020
Things That Happen in the Bathroom - Edward Hancox (USA)

Best Cork Short Award
Rosalyn - Olivia J Middleton (Ireland)

Best Director: Irish Short
Michael-David McKernan - HALO (Ireland)

Cork Film Festival Youth Jury Award
The Cave - Feras Fayyad