GOOD VIBRATIONS, the magnificent biopic of Terri Hooley, the Belfast man who was the key figure in the city’s punk music scene in the late 1970s won The Best Irish Feature Award at the Galway Film Fleadh.
The award was presented at the Town Hall Theatre on Sunday. The film, featuring outstanding performances by Richard Dormer (as Hooley ) and Jodie Whittaker (as his long-suffering wife Ruth ), and featuring many memorable sequences - John Peel playing The Undertones on his radio show had the Town Hall audience whooping and cheering at Saturday’s screening - was the deserved winner of the award.
Good Vibrations, directed by Glenn Lyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa, is due to go on general release towards the end of this year.
Best International Feature went to Srdjan Dragojevic’s comedy The Parade.
The Best First Irish Feature was jointly awarded to Ciaran Foy’s Citadel and Alan Brennan’s Earthbound, while Best International First Feature went to Toni Bestard’s Perfect Stranger.
The Galway Hooker Awards went to Irish director Frank Stapleton and French actress Isabelle Huppert.
Stop Motion Biscuit Cake by Alan Travers took home the 30 Minute Film Festival Judges Award, while Kris Kelly’s Here To Fall scooped the Don Quijote Prize.
The Huston School of Film and Digital Media’s Cinema, Human Right and Advocacy Award went to Michael Collins’ Give Up Tomorrow. The Donal Gilligan Award for Best Cinematography in a short went to James Mather for The Hatch. The James Horgan Award for Best Animation went to Conor Finnegan’s Fear of Flying. The film is now eligible to enter the Oscars.
The Tiernan McBride Award for Best Short Drama went to The Girl with the Mechanical Maiden, directed by Andrew Legge. The film is eligible to enter the Oscars. The Cartoon Saloon Best First Animation Award went to Head Over Heels, directed by Timothy Reckart.
The Best First Short Drama was won by Toy Soldiers, directed by Mike Hayes. The Best Short Documentary Award in association with Teach Solas went to Paddy Hayes’ The Hood and The Collar.
Best Irish Feature Documentary went to Art Ó Briain’s Natural Grace. The Best International Feature Documentary went to Four Horsemen.
The Galway Film Fleadh Pitching Award was presented to Hannah Patterson for Resistance. The Bingham Ray New Talent Award went to Pilgrim Hill by writer/director Gerard Barrett.
