Two students from Athlone IT have received awards in a national film competition for college students, aimed at highlighting young people’s attitudes to alcohol and promoting responsible drinking.
David O’Carroll and Michelle Lavelle Glynn both won prizes in the DARE2BDRINKAWARE competition, which is sponsored by drinkaware.ie and organised by the Digital Hub Development Agency. Their films had beaten off stiff competition from student filmmakers throughout Ireland to make the shortlist for the competition.
At an awards ceremony Michelle Lavelle Glynn walked away with a cheque for €1,000 for winning the Public Vote category in DARE2BDRINKAWARE with her film Drunkorexic V Obesity. The film received almost a quarter of the 4,600 votes cast in an online poll by viewers of the 10 films that were shortlisted for the competition.
Her fellow AIT student, David O’Carroll, came third in the Best Overall Film category of the DARE2BDRINKAWARE competition for his film, A Simple Choice. At the awards ceremony in The Digital Hub, O’Carroll was presented with a cheque for €400 by RTÉ and Lyric FM presenter John Kelly, who was a member of the DARE2BDRINKAWARE judging panel.
Both Lavelle Glynn and O’Carroll also got the chance to meet Lenny Abrahamson – one of Ireland’s most successful film directors – at the awards ceremony, as well as representatives from the Irish Film Institute, the Irish Film and Television Academy and MTV Ireland.
Lenny Abrahamson – whose films, Garage and Adam and Paul, have won numerous awards, both in Ireland and at international level – was full of praise for all of the DARE2BDRINKAWARE shortlisted films.
“Competitions like this are integral to the future success of the Irish film industry,” he said. “It’s very tough starting out as a novice film-maker, so the experience and support gained through competitions such as DARE2BDRINKAWARE are invaluable.
A Simple Choice and Drunkorexic V Obesity are available to view at www.dare2bdrinkaware.com
