Two locals vying for IFTA film awards this weekend

By Kieran O’Mahony

WEST Cork filmmakers are to feature prominently at this weekend’s IFTA awards taking place in Dublin’s Mansion House, with two locals being nominated for work.

The Great Wide Open, which was produced by Glengarriff native Mark Holland, has been nominated for Best Short Film, while Danny Crowley from Leap has been nominated for Best Sound for the horror film The Hallow.

‘We’re absolutely thrilled with the nomination and getting to shoot the film in Glengarriff was a dream come true and this is just the icing on the cake,’ said Mark Holland, producer of The Great Wide Open.

‘We would never have been able to produce the film without the generosity and patience of family, local people and businesses. It’s over a decade since Maureen O’Hara won her IFTA, so it would be great to being another back to the Glen.’

The film was shot in Glengarriff in September 2014 and it premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh last July. It tells the story of young girl, Etain (Elena O’Connor) and her grandfather (John Kavanagh) whose connection transcends both a generation and family politics. 

When Etain’s grandfather moves into a derelict boat at the bottom of her garden on the idyllic West Cork coast, she spends her school holidays helping make it, and him, seaworthy again. ‘We were lucky enough to get the opportunity to combine stunning scenery with some brilliant talent. We would never have been able to complete the film, let alone get this nomination without the help of everybody in the locality,’ said director Ciarán Dooley. The Great Wide Open was made under the Galway Film Centre/RTÉ short film award scheme and is the second collaboration between producer Mark Holland and writer/director Ciarán Dooley. Their film has already won awards in both festivals in Cork and San Francisco and they are up against this year’s Oscar-winning short film Stutterer in their category.

Danny Crowley from Leap is nominated for Best Sound for his work on the creepy horror film, The Hallow, which was shot in Connemara in September 2014. 

‘It’s great to be nominated and we are up against some interesting enough films like Room and My Name is Emily, Danny told The Southern Star.

Danny got his first break in film when he worked on David Puttnam’s War of the Buttons aged just 17. Since then Danny has carved out a highly successful career in sound mixing and he now works on Games of  Thrones – probably the biggest television show in the world.

‘We finished shooting season six before Christmas and it will be broadcast soon and we start work on season seven in August,’ he revealed. The awards will be broadcast on TV3 at 9pm on Sunday April 10th.