05/03/2024 - Irish filmmaker Ross Killeen’s work nabbed the Audience Award while Lina Soualem's movie was named Best Documentary

Following the closing screening of Pat Collins’ That They May Face the Rising Sun [+see also:
film review
film profile], the Dublin International Film Festival audience spoke, selecting Ross Killeen’s Don’t Forget to Remember as the recipient of this year’s Audience Award.

“We are honoured and delighted to win. It’s a personal film, so it was particularly special to have our cast, crew and families present at our world premiere at home”, said producer Louise Byrne.

“It explores universal themes of love and loss but, most importantly, it’s about how we remember, and it shows how fragile those memories can be. Having shown [the film] at the festival, we now want to continue this conversation around Alzheimer’s disease, the brittleness of memory and what it means to care for someone whose memories are eluding them”.

“For many years, the DIFF Audience Award has gone to an Irish documentary, and this year was no exception. This highly competitive award was won by a brilliantly made and incredibly moving film”, added festival director Gráinne Humphreys, commenting on this year’s “hugely successful” edition.

While Goodbye Julia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mohamed Kordofani
film profile] by Mohamed Kordofani, and Kathleen Harris’ Birdsong – another doc, this time following Irish ornithologist Seán Ronayne – were runners-up for the title, Baby Steps walked out with the Shorts Audience Award.

The Dublin Film Critics Circle chose Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Much from The End of The World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile] as Best Film and That They May Face the Rising Sun as Best Irish Film, while naming Víctor Erice Best Director for Close Your Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], among other accolades. Lina Soualem’s Bye Bye Tiberias [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lina Soualem
film profile] won both Best Documentary (with Don’t Forget to Remember given an Honorary Mention) along with the ICCL Human Rights Prize, with the jurors describing it as a “beautiful, tender film rooted in human experience and place”.

“This story of exile and subsequent return speaks to the importance of home and familial and cultural heritage. In this current moment in time, as so many of us empathise with the experiences of the men, women and children living in Gaza and Palestine, we found its message of hope and its beautiful portrayal of Palestine inspiring”, they enthused.

Finally, Tj O’Grady-Peyton’s Room Taken was given the Sue Bruce Smith Shorts Award and Aoife Fealy, Lochlainn McKenna and Joe Robbins were named the winners of the Discovery Award. The prize, it was stated, “aims to identify, champion, support and encourage new and emerging talent from both in front of and behind the camera”.

“It has been a festival on many fronts, with sold out screenings, industry events and a delightful, buzzy atmosphere across our cinemas and other venues. We worked hard to connect our program with audiences throughout the city and beyond, and we succeeded”, Humphreys concluded.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Audience Awards

Best Film
Don’t Forget to Remember – Ross Killeen (Ireland)

Best Irish Short
Baby Steps – Hannah Mamalis (Ireland)

Dublin Film Critics Circle (DFCC) Awards

Best Film
Do Not Expect Much from The End of The World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile] – Radu Jude (Romania/Luxembourg/France/Croatia)

Best Director
Victor Erice -  Close Your Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Spain/Argentina)

Best Screenplay
Ilker Çatak - The Teacher’s Lounge [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: İlker Çatak
interview: Leonie Benesch
film profile] (Germany)

Best Actor
Ayoub Elaid and Abdelatif El Mansouri - Hounds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kamal Lazraq
film profile] (France/Morocco/Belgium/Qatar)

Best Actress
Eka Chavleishvili - Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elene Naveriani
film profile] (Switzerland/Georgia)

Best Cinematography
Mami Wata – CJ Obasi (Nigeria)

Best Score
Monster – Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan)

Best Editing
Evil Does Not Exist – Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan)

Best Debut Feature
Orlando, My Political Biography [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paul B Preciado
film profile] – Paul B Preciado (France)

Best Ensemble Cast
Green Border [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Agnieszka Holland (Poland)

Best Irish Film
That They May Face the Rising Sun [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Pat Collins (Ireland/UK)

Best Documentary
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger [+see also:
film review
film profile] – David Hinton (UK)

Special Jury Prize
Oink [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mascha Halberstad
film profile] – Mascha Halberstad (Netherlands/Belgium)

George Byrne Maverick Award
Guy Maddin 

Michael Dwyer Discovery Award
Pavia Sidhu and Yugam Sood - Dear Jassi (India)

Other awards

Best Documentary
Bye Bye Tiberias [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lina Soualem
film profile] – Lina Soulem (France/Palestine/Belgium/Qatar)
Honorary Mention
Don’t Forget to Remember – Ross Killeen

The ICCL Human Rights Award
Bye Bye Tiberias – Lina Soulem

Sue Bruce Smith Best Irish Short Award
Room Taken – Tj O’Grady-Peyton (Ireland)

Discovery Award
Aoife Fealy, Lochlainn McKenna and Joe Robbins