October 2008 Prize for NUI Galway Film Students' Documentary

NUI Galway students of the M.A. in Production and Direction at the Huston School of Film & Digital Media have won the Best Short Documentary prize at the Radharc Awards in Dublin. Producer Richard Walsh from Ballybunion, County Kerry, and Director Julian Ulrichs from Galway City, received the award for their short documentary 'F.G.M. – No Way Home'. The documentary deals with the issue of female genital mutilation in relation to African refugees in Ireland. The documentary team travelled to Africa to film some of the footage and the resulting piece is a hard-hitting yet sensitive exploration of the cultural and legal aspects surrounding the issue of female genital mutilation, a subject which was has hit the headlines in Ireland during the last year. The short documentary was based on a brief proposed by students of the M.A. in Public Advocacy, who collaborate with Production and Direction students every year to deliver incisive films addressing societal issues. Commenting on the win, James Finlan, coordinator of the M.A. in Production and Direction said: "This was the first year we had students shooting outside of Ireland which was an exciting development. This project was ideally suited to the competition as many of the original Radharc films dealt with African issues. Winning the award vindicates the collaboration between the Production and Public Advocacy students, which is a unique aspect of these courses". The Radharc Awards honour the memory of the late Fr Joe Dunn, co-founder of Radharc Films. The awards are presented to the producers of documentaries of outstanding quality, which address national or international topics of social justice, morality or faith. Huston School of Film & Digital Media runs a number of M.A. courses including Production/Direction, Screenwriting, Film Studies, Digital Media and Public Advocacy. Earlier this year, another Huston graduate Brian Deane won the Babelgum online film festival prize which was presented by Spike Lee at the Cannes Film Festival. Huston Screenwriting graduates have also won three out of four Stella Artois Pitching Awards at the Galway Film Fleadh. Further information available from: www.filmschool.ie -ends-