09/03/2020 - Bartosz Kruhlik, Mijie Li, Dan Scanlon and Phyllida Lloyd are among this year’s victors

It’s a wrap for the 2020 edition of the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival, one of Ireland’s most prestigious film events. This year, the festival was held from 26 February-8 March. Yesterday, the gathering was brought to a close by a gala screening of Phyllida Lloyd’s drama Herself [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Clare Dunne
film profile], which recently had its world premiere at Sundance.

The Dublin Film Critics’ Circle crowned Bartosz Kruhlik’s debut feature, Supernova [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bartosz Kruhlik
film profile], as Best Film, while Dan Scanlon’s animated flick Onward was awarded with the Best Feature Prize from the Fantastic Flix jury. Other important victors at this edition include Mijie Li’s Confucian Dream, the winner of the documentary competition, and Phyllida Lloyd’s Herself, the recipient of the ICCL Human Rights Film Award.

Finally, this edition saw two filmmakers pick up the Volta Award – namely, writer-director Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synecdoche, New York) and popular Danish actress Trine Dyrholm, the star of Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen (1998) and, more recently, May el-Toukhy’s Queen of Hearts [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustav Lindh
interview: May el-Toukhy
film profile] (2019), amongst many other films.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Fantastic Flix jury awards

Best Feature Film
Onward – Dan Scanlon (USA)

Best Short Film
Streets of Fury – Aidan McAteer (Ireland)

Short-film awards (supported by Griffith College)

Best International Short Film
Quiet Land Good People – Johannes Bachmann (Switzerland)

Special Mention for an International Short Film
Adnan – Steven Chatterton and Mark Arrigo (UK)

Best Irish Short Film
Welcome to a Bright White Limbo – Cara Holmes (Ireland)

Special Mention for an Irish Short Film
Innocent Boy – John Connors (Ireland)

Aer Lingus Discovery Award
Paddy Slattery – writer-director, Broken Law [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paddy Slattery
film profile] (Ireland)
Cara Holmes – director, Welcome to a Bright White Limbo (Ireland)
Claire Byrne – director, Sister This (Ireland)
Dónal Ó Héalaí – actor, Arracht [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Ireland)

Documentary competition

Winner of the Documentary Competition
Confucian Dream – Mijie Li (China/USA)

Special Mention
Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Mark Cousins (UK)

ICCL Human Rights Film Award

Winner
Herself [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Clare Dunne
film profile] – Phyllida Lloyd (UK/Ireland)

Special Mention
Street Leagues [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Daniel F Holmes (Ireland)

Lifetime Contribution Award
Liam Cunningham

Volta Awards
Charlie Kaufman
Trine Dyrholm

Dublin Film Critics’ Circle Awards

Best Film
Supernova [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bartosz Kruhlik
film profile] – Bartosz Kruhlik (Poland)

Best Actor
Albano Jeronimo – The Domain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tiago Guedes
film profile] (Portugal/France)

Best Actress
Barbara Sukowa – Two of Us [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Filippo Meneghetti
film profile] (France/Luxembourg/Belgium)

Best Screenplay
Congcong Teng – Send Me to the Clouds (China)

Best Director
Roy Andersson – About Endlessness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roy Andersson
film profile] (Sweden/Germany/Norway)

Best Cinematography
Leonardo Simoes – Vitalina Varela [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Portugal)

Best Ensemble
Rocks [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sarah Gavron
film profile] – Sarah Gavron (UK)

Best Irish Film
Arracht – Tom Sullivan

George Byrne Maverick Award
Pat Murphy

Best Documentary
New York Our Time – Vivienne Dick (Ireland)

Michael Dwyer Discovery Award
Clare Dunne – Herself

Jury Prizes
Moffie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Oliver Hermanus (South Africa/UK)
Marona's Fantastic Tale [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Anca Damian (France/Romania/Belgium)
Deerskin [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Quentin Dupieux
film profile] – Quentin Dupieux (France)
If You Are Happy – Xiaoming Chen (China)