The Kerry Film Festival, in Kerry, Ireland, which is celebrating eleven years of bringing film to Kerry, announced the winning short films from the 2010 edition of the festival.
The 2010 Kerry Film Festival Award Winners are:
Children’s Audience Award, THE END IS NIGHT, James Cotter
When a farmer discovers an ancient amulet with the power to destroy the world, he does what any of us would do…
Audience Award, CHRISTMAS SWIM, Keith Mannix
While for most Christmas day is about warm fires, steaming turkey, and mulled wine, locals in county Kerry, Ireland dust off the cobwebs of Christmas eves forays by stripping down to their briefs and facing the freezing Atlantic seas for the annual Christmas Swim.
Best Animated Short, THE POLISH LANGUAGE, Alice Lyons & Orla McHardy
The Polish Language is at once a playful and solemn journey into the sensuality, beauty and subversive power of language. See what happens to true love when a new love enters the picture. It’s not always pretty but it’s always funny!
Best Documentary Short, IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK, Anna Rodgers
This is a short documentary film, which moves through the empty wards of anonymous closed psychiatric hospitals around Ireland, which were built around the turn of the century. In it, the long stay patients are invisible but their stories, sighs and songs are heard emanating from the walls themselves.
Best Irish Short, RUNNERS, Rob & Ronan Burke
For eighteen-year-old, Derek, running drugs isn’t a big deal, it’s just a job. But juggling a relationship, family and his ‘career’ isn’t easy. Something’s gotta give!
Best International Short, DROP DEAD, Arne Toonen
What begins as an exciting adventure takes a nightmarish turn…
Best Short Film / Best Director, PASSING, David Freyne
After finding her husband dead on their land, an elderly woman sets herself the task of getting his body back to their home. On the journey Margaret and her deceased husband talk about their lives and times passed.
The Maureen O’ Hara Award, which acknowledges women that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their respective fields in film, was presented to Juliette Binoche at the ceremony.