Fastnet Film Festival winners announced

‘Sister This’ Directed by Claire Byrne took home €5,000 for Best Irish Film and ‘A Sister’ Directed by Delphine Girard from Belgium swept the boards by taking home the most awards since the festival began in 2009: Best International Film, The Jack Gold Prize for Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Sound Design by Luis Trinques and Best Editing by Damien Keyeux.

The Fastnet Film Festival, which took place Online due to Covid-19 from the 26^th to the 30^th of  May saw thousands of filmmakers from all over the world log on to the Festival’s Short Film Platform over the five days.

Gerard Stembridge, the Master of Ceremonies at the Festival Awards was joined online by several of the illustrious judges, such as Bronagh Gallagher who announced the Best Comedy Winner, and David Puttnam who announced the €20,000 Puttnam Award winner to be Brian Dwyer for pitching his short script ‘Wireless’.

The Premiere of the resultant film will be screened in Schull in May 2022.

All in all a great end to very successful festival.

The Awards Presented on the night were:

WINNER OF THE PUTTNAM AWARD

Cash Prize of €20,000
Jury: Judy Bollinger, Kirsten Sheridan, Patsy Puttnam, Dominic Treadwell-Collins & Ian Power 

Winner: Brian Dwyer for Wireless

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

Cash Prize of €5,000
Category Panel: Sue Howes, Sandy Lieberson & John Kelleher

Winner: A Sister Directed by Delphine Girard from Belgium

BEST IRISH FILM

Cash Prize of €5,000

Category Panel: Patsy Puttnam, Hilary Durman & Jeff Wright

Winner: Sister This Directed by Claire Byrne

BEST IRISH LANGUAGE FILM

Cash Prize of €2,000
Category Judge: Róisín Kelleher

Winner: An Gadhar Dubh | The Black Dog Directed by Pádraig Fagan

BEST IN CORK

Cash Prize of €1,000 – Sponsored by Cork County Council
Category Judge: Gerard Stembridge

Winner: 4X4 Directed by Ayla Amano

BEST STUDENT OF MEDIA & FILM STUDIES

Cash Prize of €1,000
Category Judge: Donal Beecher

Winner: Clara’s Room Directed by Pippa Molony Ireland

BEST YOUNG FILMMAKER (U19)

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Martin Levis

JOINT WINNERS

Horizons Directed by Seán Treacy, Ireland

L’Argomento! Directed by Reuben Harvey, Ireland

BEST DRAMA

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Maureen Hughes

Winner: One | Uno Directed by Javier Marco Rico, Spain

BEST COMEDY

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Bronagh Gallagher

Winner: All In Good Time Directed by Bonnie Dempsey

THE TONY BARRY PRIZE FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY

Cash Prize of €500
Category Panel: Paul Stekler & Pratap Rughani

JOINT WINNERS

Converted Directed by Suzie Keegan, Ireland

Welcome to a Bright White Limbo Directed by Cara Holmes, Ireland 

BEST ARTHOUSE

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Mike Ahern - Team DADDY

Winner: When We’re Gone Directed by James Skerritt, Ireland

BEST ANIMATION

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Steve Baker

Winner: Her Song Directed by Éabha Bortolozzo & Jack Kirwan, Ireland

THE JACK GOLD PRIZE FOR BEST DIRECTION

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Carmel Winters

JOINT WINNERS

A Sister Directed by Delphine Girard, Belgium

Detours Directed by Christopher Yates, Belgium

BEST SCREENPLAY

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Gaby Smyth

Winner: A Sister Written by Delphine Girard, Belgium 

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Maurice Seezer

JOINT WINNERS

Boat Boy composed by Anthony Willis, Ireland

Pretty Bonnets Composed by Antoni M March UK

BEST SOUND DESIGN

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Kieran Horgan

Winner: A Sister Sound Design by Luis Trinques, Belgium

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Chris O’Dell

JOINT WINNERS

Flora Cinematography by Michal Babinec, Spain

Sleepless/Repeat Until Death Cinematography by Nicholas Chin, Mongolia

BEST EDITING

Cash Prize of €500
Category Judge: Sam Connor

Winner: A Sister Edited by Damien Keyeux, Belgium

For the five-days of the festival this year, we went back to our roots, ‘FFF 2021 was all about the Short’.

Following Saorise Ronan’s welcome address, 350 short films were made available to view on the Festival’s Short Film Platform. The innovative ‘In Short’ series of 24 bite-sized tutorials by a wide variety of industry professionals, advising on their particular field of expertise was very well received.

These included Ed Guiney (Producing), Joan Bergin (Costume), Kate McCullough (Cinematography), Mike Ahern (Directing Comedy), Ros & John Hubbard (Casting), Mark O’Halloran (Scriptwriting), Ray Ball (Production Design), Ross Whitaker (Directing Documentary), Cara Holmes (Film Editing), Maurice Seezer (Music), Cian McElhone (Legal Issues) – and many more.

Due to popular demand these Mini Tutorials will remain accessible on the FFF site for the foreseeable future. We felt it was time to give something back, so All Events Were Free to view. The prep now begins for the real deal in May 2022.

For further information please check out www.fastnetfilmfestival.com