19th Cinemagic Success
Filmmakers and budding young film professionals celebrated the successes of the 19th Coca-Cola Cinemagic International Film and Television Festival, after two action packed weeks of film screenings, workshops, masterclasses, and industry discussions, at a special awards ceremony on Friday 4th December.
The awards ceremony opened with the announcement of the winning Cinemagic ‘in competition’ films, which was made by the young Cinemagic Jury members, aged 18 and under, who watched and reviewed all the films over the festival period.
Arts and Culture Minister Nelson McCausland attended the Cinemagic Festival where he presented the Film Club Awards. Commenting at the awards ceremony the Minister said: “Congratulations to the Cinemagic Festival which is in its 19th year and has grown from humble beginnings to be the largest young people’s film event in the United Kingdom. The success of this festival clearly lies in the fact that it is designed for and by young people. It aims to capture the imagination of young people in the moving image and so encourages them to explore and develop their creative talents. Today’s young cinemagic participants could be the Spielbergs of tomorrow and I applaud the Festival for their work in inspiring the next generation of film makers.”
Zoë Cunningham, Communications Manager for title sponsor Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland added: “Coca-Cola has been working in partnership with Cinemagic since 2004 and is proud to be title sponsor of the Cinemagic International Film and Television Festival for Young People once again this year. During the two week festival, Cinemagic activated a truly action packed schedule of events which provided participants with the fantastic opportunity to gain hands-on experience in many arts based disciplines. The festival gave a unique insight into the exciting world of film and television and showcased the many and varied talents of the young people of Northern Ireland, who we hope to see as the stars of stage and screen in the years to come.”
The winning films in the following categories were Best Short Film as voted for by a Children’s Jury, ‘Lost and Found’, Dir: Phillip Hunt, UK, 2009; Best Feature Film as voted for by a Children’s Jury, ‘A Shine of Rainbows’, Dir: Vic Sarin, Ireland, 2009; Best Short Film as voted for by a Teenage Jury, ‘TV Dinner’, Dir: Simon Tofield, UK, 2008; Best Feature Film as voted for by a Teenage Jury, ‘It’s Not Me, I Swear’, Dir: Philippe Falardeau, Canada, 2008.
Young filmmakers from across Ireland and the UK were also awarded at the ceremony as the winners of the 2009 Cinemagic Young Filmmaker Competition were announced. From hundreds of entries the winning films and filmmakers were:
- Best Film in the under 15 year old category, ‘MUMMY’, made by Sophie and Dylan Hagan from Newtownabbey.
- Best Film in the 15-17 year old category, ‘END’, Made by Dan Allen and Lily Staff from Essex.
- Best Film in the 18-25 year old category, ‘JUST’, made by Connor Flanagan from Dublin.
- Best Script and Concept, ‘CONSCIOUSNESS’, made by Callum Henderson from Newcastle, Co. Down.
- Best Documentary Film ‘ASPERGERS AND ME’ made by JJ McQuade from Belfast.
The winning school in the BT Vision short film project supported by Arts and Business was St Dominic’s Secondary School, Belfast, who received prize money of £500.00 for their film ‘Sister Lucia’
Highly commended schools in the ‘After School Film Club awards’ were Harberton School, Belfast and St Joseph’s Primary School, Derry; and the winning school was Millisle Primary School, Co Down.
The ceremony culminated with a celebration of new and upcoming talent that shone through at the ‘Talent Lab’ masterclasses sponsored by Invest Northern Ireland, that were hosted by top names in the film industry. The winners in the following categories will get the chance to further develop their skills during a work placement in the film industry in 2010:
- Most promising student in Fights for Stage and Screen: Michael Smith from Ballynahinch.
- Most promising student in Make up for Film: Maria Liddy from Armagh.
- Most promising student in Costume Design for Film: Ros McGahan from Armagh.
- Most promising student in Scriptwriting: Rob Johnston from East Belfast.
- Most promising student in Film Production: Enya Rose Hamilton from Ballynahinch.
- Most promising student in Acting with Ros Hubbard: Aisling Groves-McKeown from Bangor.
- Most promising student in Location Management: Joseph Doyle from North Belfast.
- Most promising student in Acting with Ciaran Hinds: Ryan McKenna from Dungannon.
- Most promising students in Programme Making: Nick McCarthy from South Belfast and Michelle Steadman from Co. Wicklow.
Links:
Cinemagic
