Tipperary Festival Attracts International Filmmakers

Fiona Ashe accepting her award from Film Festival Director Will Nugent

Film aficionados from around the world descended on Clonmel this September for the International Film Festival Ireland.  It was the third year the festival has been staged and it’s enjoying greater success every year.  During the Festival in the county town of South Tipperary, there were over 70 screenings, many of which were attended by film makers, scriptwriters, actors and movie enthusiasts.

The festival is the brainchild of local musician and film fan Will Nugent, whose vision is to give viewers in Tipperary the opportunity to see films that they would otherwise miss.  It is a testament to the event he’s built that members of the local community and media – as well as Irish and international filmmakers – showed strong support for the festival for the third year running.

Winner of The America’s Best Feature Film – Nick Taylor for Paradise East – said in his acceptance speech “Tipperary is Numero Uno and Will is the guy. I’ve been here four days and have seen so many amazing movies…..true independent film.”

Victoria Campbell won The America’s Best Documentary for House of Bones and said “It’s such an honour to be here in Tipperary. I’m a big fan of local festivals because you tend to see a lot of cool work that is often under the radar…..in mainstream films…..losing the authenticity which is the soul of this particular festival which I hope keeps going and attracting more people every year.”

The Best Screenplay Award was won by Irish Director/Screenwriter Fiona Ashe for Cracks In The Ice.  She commended the festival for giving filmmakers the chance to bring their work to new audiences: “The International Film Festival Ireland is superb at generating opportunities to collaborate.  I’m still in regular contact with many of the filmmakers that I met here during the first year of the festival and I hope to collaborate on feature films with some of them.”

Will Nugent intends to make the festival even bigger and better next year: “As the dust settles once again on our little film festival, we would like to say a big thank you all who submitted their excellent work and to those who helped and supported the festival. We’re looking forward to next year already.”

To see the list of winners and videos go to http://www.southtippfilm.com