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7th Dublin Arabic Film Festival
Short Film Presentations 22-24 January 2021
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Jim Sheridan Talks to Ireland AM about DAFF 2020

Welcome

WINNERS ANNOUNCED
January 2021

JIM SHERIDAN INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Multi Oscar nominee, Jim Sheridan together with filmmaker, Zahara Moufid have announced the winners in this years ‘Jim Sheridan International Short Film Competition’. The inaugural competition was open to filmmakers across the globe who were invited to submit up to a 20- minute, original short film.
Zahara Moufid said, “There were large numbers of films entered into the competition which is phenomenal. Initially, a long list of 50 films were selected by our partners at the Waterford Film Festival . The second-round selection involved Jim Sheridan and the team selecting 20 films from the long list which in turn led to our final selection. We were absolutely blown away by the talent displayed and want to sincerely thank everyone for their submissions”, said Zahara.

The ‘Best Short Film’ was The Present, directed by Farah Nabulshi and produced by Ossama Bawardi and Farah Nabulshi. The film shows how Palestinians suffer every day due to Israeli occupation and sheds light on how Palestinian people are deprived of the basic right to freedom of movement.
The film follows a father and his young daughter as they attempt to run their daily errands and purchase a present for the man’s wife. Jim Sheridan said, “Zahara had seen this film before me and told me it was really good and she was absolutely right. The film is thought provoking and highly emotive.

Zahara and I would like to congratulate Farah Nabulshi and Ossama Bawardi and their team on creating such a good piece of work”
The Runner up for Best Short Film went to Lady on the Hill, directed by Brian Rossney and produced by Edwina Forkin and Liam Beatty. Zahara Moufid said, “Lady on the Hill manages to tell an incredible story of loss, grief and resilience without a single word being uttered throughout the film. The acting, cinematography and story telling ability displayed throughout the film was gripping and this film is one that will go around and around in your mind for a long time.”

The Best Student/ Debut Film went to Birthday Girl, directed by Portia A. Buckley. The film is set in in Manchester’s notorious Moss Side and is about a single mother’s 43rd birthday party which ends in disaster when her lover unexpectedly arrives and clashes with her overprotective son. “We loved this film, it has a great creative energy and an intensity that reels the viewer in right from the start,” said Jim Sheridan.
1st Special Mention for Debut/Short Film went to 1 Billion, directed by Dave Thomas. 2nd Special Mention for Best Short Film was Mare Nostrum, directed by Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf and 3rd Special Mention was A White Horse, directed by Shaun O’Connor.
In the Highly Commended category laureates went to Innocent Boy by John Connors and Produced by Tiernan Williams. Also Highly Commended were Cillín, directed by Karin Pritzel and produced by Cian Byrne, A Better You by Eamon Murphy and Quintin Ahern and A Reasonable Effort directed by Erik Marcon, starring Daire El Sibai.

Jim Sheridan, said, “The pandemic has affected all of us in so many ways, life as we know it has changed utterly and I wonder if we will ever be the same? Film has played an essential role for so many people, particularly through the various lockdowns of 2020 and now again in 2021. The medium of film provides us with an escape mechanism and in these strange times it’s important to be able to escape… even in our minds and even just for a short time. Congratulations to all the winners and indeed to everyone who entered. It’s really heartening to see that people are still being creative and are honing their skills and their art and thanks to our team and to our partner jury from Waterford Film Festival .”

-ENDS-

For further press information please contact Aileen O’Brien, O’Brien PR + 00 353 (0) 86 8403624 aileen@obrienpr.com