Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland has congratulated Irish cinematographer Kate McCullough and the creative team behind An Cailín Ciúín on her Excellence Award for Best European Cinematography at the European Film Awards.
Kate McCullough, an award-winning Irish cinematographer, is known for her work on hit TV series Normal People, Emer Reynolds’ documentary The Farthest and Ken Wardrop’s His & Hers and was recently listed as one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow 2020.
The eight winners of the Excellence Awards were unveiled by the European Film Academy today, including several wins for Kenneth Branagh’s film Belfast. The ceremony of the European Film Awards – the most renowned and prestigious award for European film – will take place on 10th December in Reyjjavik, and the Excellence Awards recipients will be honoured at the ceremony in their respective arts and crafts categories.
This award for An Cailín Ciúin is the latest of several picked up by the film’s creative team in recent weeks. The Irish-language film has already broken domestic box office records in Ireland, surpassing €1 million and becoming the most successful Irish-language film in history. It has also been critically acclaimed internationally, with outlets like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter highlighting the film’s potential as a contender for Best International Film at the Academy Awards, the shortlist of which will be announced in December this year.
The full list of awards won, to date, by An Cailín Ciúin is:
- The Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury for Best Film, Berlinale 2022
Special Mention from the Children’s Jury, Berlinale 2022 - Best Irish Film, Dublin Film Critics’ Circle Awards 2022
- Audience Award, Dublin International Film Festival 2022
- 7 Irish Film & Television Academy Awards 2022
- Best Film
- Best Director, Colm Bairéad
- Best Actress, Catherine Clinch
- Best Cinematography, Kate McCullough
- Best Editor, John Murphy
- Best Production Design, Emma Lowney
- Best Original Music, Stephen Rennicks
- Audience Choice Award, International New Talent Competition, Taipei Film Festival 2022
- Audience Favourite Award, Film Fest 919, North Carolina 2022
- Jury Award for Best Picture at the Newport Beach Film Festival 2022
- Silver Spike Award, Valladolid International Film Festival 2022
- FIPRESCI Award, Valladolid International Film Festival 2022
- Audience Award, Official Section, Valladolid International Film Festival 2022
- Audience Award for World Cinema, Montclair Film Festival, New Jersey 2022
- Scannán na Bliana, Gradaim Chumarsáide an Oireachtais / Film of the Year, Oireachtas Media Awards 2022
- First Runner-Up, Audience Award, Miami Film Festival GEMS, Florida 2022
- Audience Award, Denver Film Festival, Colorado 2022
- Best Feature Film, Irish Film London Awards 2022
- European Cinematography Award – Kate McCullough, European Film Academy Awards 2022
Based on the acclaimed story, Foster by Claire Keegan, An Cailín Ciúin is a complex and delicate coming-of-age drama that explores questions of family, neglect and loss through the eyes of its young protagonist.
An Cailín Ciúin is the feature film debut of writer/director, Colm Bairéad and producer, Cleona Ní Chrualaoi of Inscéal. The film was funded by Screen Ireland, TG4 and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland as part of the Cine4 scheme. The film is also in receipt of the Irish Government’s Section 481 tax incentive. It was shot on location in Meath and Dublin in 2020.