KFF Winners 2008

John Kennedy, Chairman KFF, Brenda Fricker, Jason O' Mahony, KFF, Jim Sheridan at KFF award ceremony

The Kerry Film Festival, which is this year celebrating nine years of bringing films to the people of Kerry, is delighted with a stellar festival featuring sell out screenings and a host of top quality award winning shorts.

The Festival was officially launched by Irish Times Film Critic Michael Dwyer on November 1st. From the official opening to the Awards ceremony which took place on Saturday November 8th the festival was a monumental success bringing over 100 films to just over 4,500 people through out Kerry. The Festival screened in 6 locations – Tralee; Listowel; Killarney; Dingle; Sneem; Waterville and Camp, in ten venues throughout the Kingdom and built significantly on the previous year's attendance.

Brenda Fricker was on hand at the award ceremony to accept the inaugural Maureen O' Hara award, a new award given to women that have demonstrated extraordinary talent and bravery in their chosen field in film. Jim Sheridan, who directed Brenda in her Oscar winning role in MY LEFT FOOT, presented the award.

Brenda, whose mother was from Kerry, quipped that, "It's a pity that my Mom isn't here to see me collect this award because Maureen O' Hara was one of our favorites. But if she was, I know what she would say, 'Well they didn't give it to you for your looks!'"

The audience gave Brenda a well deserved standing ovation and was taken by her warmth and generosity while Jim Sheridan called her, "the best actress I have ever worked with." Brenda who has shown such bravery in her roles displayed similar bravery in traveling to Kerry, against her doctor's recommendation, to pick up the award, despite wearing a heavily bandaged sling to protect her shoulder which was shattered in a recent fall. "I have a new metal shoulder and metal pin in my arm. I feel a bit like the bionic woman," laughed Brenda.

In addition to the Maureen O' Hara award, the festival offered cash prizes totaling 6,500 euro with the top prize of 5,000 euro for Best Director / Best Film being awarded to the film OF BEST INTENTIONS, by Brian Durnin. The film uses the story of inventor Thomas Midgley's life, who at the time of his death was blissfully unaware of the future ramifications of his inventions - leaded petrol and CFC's, as a parable for the, sometimes, fickle nature of our existence and the footprint we leave behind when we are gone.

The Audience Award, which was sponsored by the John Moore Foundation, and was valued at 1,000 euro was selected by the audience at the festival. The Award went to Michael Kelly, for his short film SMALL BENNER'S, a wonderful documentary and affectionate look at one of Tralee's most beloved institutions - Benner's Hardware shop. Michael was delighted with the award and thanked the audience for selecting his film noting, "it's fantastic to show a film about Kerry people to a Kerry audience and have them respond so warmly."

The Best Irish Narrative Short, which was valued at 500 euro, and sponsored by Cork Film Centre was awarded to Declan Cassidy's WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON, a humorous and sweet little film that documents the disruption that takes place in an electronics store when a homeless man arrives to make a purchase.

The Best International Narrative Short was awarded to Javier Beltran Ramos film, HISTORIAS DEL VIENTO (STORIES OF THE WIND). The short film, from Venezuela, is a beautifully atmospheric film telling of a three year old child who witnesses the birth of a little chicken, and begins to wonder about the pregnancy of his mother.

The Best Documentary Short was awarded to Alan Early's PARKLIFE, a doc which offers a brief glimpse into the anonymous world of gay cruising, where lust is a substitute for love.

Best Animated short went to the hilarious OUR WONDERFUL NATURE by Tomer Eshed, which takes an irreverent look at the mating habits of water shrews!

A special Children's Audience Award was given to Steph Green's NEW BOY. The film is based on a short story by Roddy Doyle and offers a poignant and comedic look at the experience of being the new boy in school through the eyes of Joseph, a nine-year-old African boy.

Also announced at the award ceremony were the winning films from the Take Two Film Festival (T2FF) - a short film festival for screening student films to students. Winners of the T2FF were:
Best Animated Short - BAD HABBIT LITTLE RABBIT, from Germany and directed by Christian Effenberger
Best Documentary Short - AQUA VIVA, from Switzerland and directed by Anouk Dominguez
Best Irish Short - TIN MAN, from Ireland and directed by Ged Murray
Best International Short - FAREWELL, from Croatia and directed by Irena Skoric

The Films were adjudicated by a panel of world renowned film professionals. For a brief Bio on the Adjudicators please see below:

Liam Neeson - Best Director
Liam Neeson is one of the leading International film stars working today. Whether it is his Academy Award nominated role of Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's highly acclaimed SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993), his award-winning portrayal of legendary Irish Republican hero in MICHAEL COLLINS (1996), or his role as controversial sex therapist Alfred Kinsey in the critically acclaimed KINSEY (2004), Neeson continues to display an acting range which can be matched by very few.

John Carney - Best Irish Narrative Short
John Carney is a writer director who exploded onto the world stage following the surprise box office hit of critically acclaimed, ONCE, which scooped many prestigious awards including the coveted World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance and an Oscar for Best Original Song, Falling Slowly, by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Steven Spielberg famously said that this "little movie gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year!" With hotly anticipated low budget comedy ZONAD about to bow, and two films in development, John is the most exciting Director to happen to Irish Film for a long time!

Kirsten Sheridan - Best International Narrative Short
Kirsten Sheridan was born in Dublin in 1976. She has had a remarkable career directing five short films including, THE BENCH (1995), PATTERNS (1998), and THE CASE OF MAJELLA MCGINTY (1999), which have all been showered with praise on the International Film Festival circuit. Her first feature film, DISCO PIGS was selected as one of the three finalists in Europe for the prestigious Sundance/ NHK Award and went on to scoop many other awards including the Grand Prize Best Film at the Ourense Film Festival.

In 2003 she co-wrote the original screenplay for the critically acclaimed IN AMERICA (2003) for which she received an Academy Award Nomination. She was also nominated for the Golden Globes, the Writers Guild of America Award, and the Humanities Prize. In 2007, Kirsten completed her US feature film debut, AUGUST RUSH, which was a box office success and received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.

Kirsten lives and works in Dublin, Ireland where she has her own film production company 'Blindside Films' and is the mother of two small children.

Vanessa Roth - Best Documentary Short
Vanessa Roth is the producer of the Oscar winning documentary short FREEHELD. She produced and directed the 2007 award winning documentary THE THIRD MONDAY IN OCTOBER and co-produced and codirected the award winning 2004 PBS documentary AGING OUT, which is the center of a multimillion dollar national foster care outreach campaign sponsored by the Annie Casey Foundation. Roth produced and directed the 2002 award winning film CLOSE TO HOME which premiered at Sundance and aired as a primetime special. Her 1998 PBS film TAKEN IN: THE LIVES OF AMERICA'S FOSTER CHILDREN won the coveted duPont Columbia award.

Suzie Templeton - Best Animated Short
Suzie Templeton is a writer, director and animator. She studied animation at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, UK where she made the award winning stop-motion film STANLEY about a man who falls in love with a cabbage! She then studied at the RCA and made DOG, a BAFTA winning stop-motion film about a man and his son dealing with their bereavement. Her half hour stop-motion adaptation of Prokofiev's PETER AND THE WOLF won a British Animation Award, a Golden Rose, and the Grand Prize and the Audience Award at Annecy. It then went on to win an Oscar earlier this year. She currently lives in Amsterdam.

For more information on the Kerry Film Festival or to download application forms for the 2009 Kerry Film Festival please log onto http://www.kerryfilmfestival.com/ or call 066 712 9934.

Liam O Maonlai at Kerry Film Festival

The Kerry Film Festival, which is celebrating nine years of bringing film to Kerry, today announced that Liam O' Maonlai will play two concerts in Kerry to coincide with the screening of Dambe: The Mali Project, a documentary by filmmaker Dearbhla Glynn, that follows Liam and fellow Irish Musician, Paddy Keenan, through Africa.

Liam and Paddy embark on a musical adventure to the Heart of Africa, Mali. Travelling over 3,000 miles they meet and collaborate with a range of characters from legendary musicians Afel Bocoum and Toumani Diabate to Nomadic Herders, culminating in a unique performance at the world's most remote musical festival; The Festival au Desert.

The film is the musical story of the two talented Irish musicians covering thousands of miles of stunning yet arduous terrain from Bamako in the south to the mysterious ancient city of Timbuktu, from which point they enter the Sahara. The film captures Mali in all its magic and beauty, celebrating culture and the power of music.

"The documentary is about sharing culture and aims to promote Mali as a Country full of life, while highlighting some of the social issues Malian people face," said filmmaker, Dearbhla Glynn. "We aimed to dispel the myth that Africa is a dark, depressed continent. This film shows you the contrary, that Mali and Africa are full of hope, colour and an abundance of social and cultural history."

Paddy is a master of the Uilleann pipes, hailed as a child prodigy, and comes from a long line of pipers. Paddy has always dreamt of visiting Africa and spending time with nomadic musicians. While Liam comes from a Rock and Roll background and has tasted international success with The Hothouse Flowers, he has always been inspired by his traditional roots, and is fascinated and deeply inspired by indigenous people and their music. Bono is on record as saying that Liam is "the best white soul singer in the world." Liam plays a wealth of instruments from the bodhran to the didgeridoo.

The film follows the musicians' journey as they explore Mali through music. Along the way the viewer learns that music is an essential form of communication and education for a country like Mali where illiteracy is rife. Liam and Paddy's journey weaves along the river Niger, stopping in villages and river towns such as Mopti and Djenne. The style is observational and experiential; Liam and Paddy develop a deep respect for each other's music and delight in absorbing the culture and musical riches of Mali. They bring the harp, Bodhran, whistles and Uillean pipes to Mali.

The Film went on to gain the coveted runner-up Audience Award at the Dublin Film Festival earlier this year and will screen in St. John's in Listowel on Thursday, November 6th. Liam will play a concert in St. John's in Listowel on Friday, November 7th. Tickets for both events are available from St. John's on 068 23485 or on the door on the night. Both events will begin at 8:00 pm.

The film will also screen in St. James' Church in Dingle on Saturday, November 8th as the official closing night film of the Kerry Film Festival and will be immediately followed by a Liam O' Maonlai concert. Tickets are available from the Kerry Film Festival Box Office on 066 712 9934 or on the door on the night. The event begins 8:00 pm sharp and tickets, which are 20 euro, cover both the film and the concert. Kerry Film Festival is providing a bus service that will run from Tralee to Dingle for the Film and Concert. The Bus will leave Fels Point Hotel after the Kerry Film Festival Awards Ceremony, which sees all the winning shorts from the Festival screen and Oscar winning Irish Actress Brenda Fricker pick up the inaugural Maureen O' Hara award. The Bus will return to Fels Point after the Film and Concert. For more details please call Kerry Film Festival on 066 712 9934.

The director, Dearbhla Glynn and the producer, Vanessa Gildea will be on hand for both screenings to answer questions.

For more information on the Kerry Film Festival, please log onto www.kerryfilmfestival.com or call 066 712 9934. Tickets for all events are available from the Kerry Film Festival box office on 066 712 9934.