A hard-hitting documentary from north Mayo has beaten off strong competition to take the overall major prize at Circom, the network of regional European broadcasters.
An Píopa (The Pipe ), commissioned by TG4 with funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and from the Irish Film Board, had already taken the Best Documentary category at Circom and was awarded the Grand Prix, the overall winner prize, announced at the weekend in Timisoara.
This is the latest major international award for An Píopa, director Risteárd Ó Domhnaill’s documentary chronicling the story of the small Rossport community, some of whose members have taken on the might of Shell Oil and the Irish authorities.
It has already won the prestigious Audience Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary at the 2010 Galway Film Fleadh, Documentary category at the 2011 Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTA ), and Best Factual Documentary at last month’s Celtic Media Festival 2011 held in Scotland. The documentary can be seen on TG4 tomorrow (Saturday ) at 8.10pm.
Circom is the European-wide federation of regional television broadcasters and has a membership of more than 300 television stations spread across 38 states. Its programme competition for the best and most original work from all of its members is one of Europe’s most prestigious and is keenly contested.
