19/10/2020 - This year’s edition (4-18 October), which saw Damian Mc Carthy’s Caveat emerge triumphant, was brought to a close by the awards ceremony, held online on 17 October

It’s a wrap for the 2020 edition of the IndieCork Film Festival (4-18 October), one of Ireland’s leading events celebrating independent cinema and music. The festival, originally set to be a hybrid event with both live and online screenings, had to go fully virtual after the government’s announcement that it would be implementing level 3 restrictions on 7 October, owing to the sharp increase in coronavirus cases recorded across the country.

The awards ceremony was held online on 17 October. The big winners of this year’s edition were Damian Mc Carthy’s psychological thriller Caveat [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damian Mc Carthy
film profile] (the recipient of the Award of the Festival) and the two films in receipt of the Spirit of IndieCork Awards – namely, Margaretta D’Arcy’s documentary A Maverick Islander and Michael Keane’s short Covid Éire.

Mc Carthy’s film follows a lone drifter suffering from partial memory loss (played by Jonathan French), who accepts a job to look after a psychologically troubled woman (Leila Sykes) in an abandoned house on an isolated island. Meanwhile, D’Arcy’s documentary is a study of Seán Ó Loingsigh from South Connemara, a philosopher, dreamer, self-appointed chieftain and failed playwright who proclaims the virtue of being a minority voice and wants to rise above the elitism associated with the game of golf by building a golf course in a bog.

Finally, the big surprise this year was Keane’s film. The director, a 16-year-old from Cobh, wrote, directed and starred in his short telling of his personal experience dealing with the coronavirus and the disruption it has caused in his life and all over the country.

Here is the full list of the 2020 edition award winners:

Award of the Festival
Caveat [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damian Mc Carthy
film profile] – Damian Mc Carthy (UK)

Best Emerging Irish Female Director
Roisín Jones – A Sense of Joy (Ireland)

Spirit of IndieCork Awards
A Maverick Islander – Margaretta D’Arcy (Ireland)
Covid Éire – Michael Keane (Ireland)

Best Creative Cork Short
Family Tree – Emmet O’Brien (Ireland)

Best Irish Short
The Invisible Boy – James Fitzgerald (Ireland)

Best International Short
Hunting – Hauazkena Taldea and Begoña Vicario (Spain)

Audience Awards

Best Creative Cork Short
Rescue Dog – Ciara Buckley (Ireland)

Best Irish Short
The West Kerry Cowboy – Cian O’Connor (Ireland)

Best International Short
Ward’s Henna Party – Morad Mostafa (Egypt)