Animator Norton Virgien began his directing career in 1990 as part of the original team for Nickelodeon’s “Rugrats”.  A two time Emmy winner for “Rugrats”, Norton also directed episodes of the critically acclaimed “Duckman” series and the CBS series “Santo Bugito”, before co-directing 1998’s “The Rugrats Movie”, which became the first non-Disney animated release to gross more than $100 million dollars.

Subsequently Norton was a Co-Producer on the Klasky Csupo features “Rugrats in Paris” and “The Wild Thornberrys Movie”, and a Co-Director of the 2004 release  “Rugrats Go Wild”.

In early 2005 he directed a thirteen episode season of the Discovery Channel series Tutenstein, winning a third Emmy;  in 2009, for Universal Animation, he directed a DVD sequel to the Curious George Movie, “Follow That Monkey!”.  Currently he is directing the upcoming Disney Kid’s CGI series “Doc McStuffins” for Brown Bag FIlms in Dublin, Ireland, slated to appear in 2012.

Paul Greengrass began his career on Granada’s World in Action in the 1970s and 80s. During this period Greengrass wrote Spycatcher with Peter Wright, which was banned by the British government in the mid 80s for revealing insights into how the British Secret Service (MI5) operated.

In 1989 he directed his first feature length drama, Resurrected, the story of a British soldier in the Falkland Islands. He continued his career in television drama with The Fix, The One That Got Away and The Murder of Stephen Lawrence. But his big break came in 2002 when he wrote and directed the critically lauded documentary-style feature Bloody Sunday. It won the Golden Bear in Berlin and the audience award at Sundance and brought him to the attention of Hollywood. His next film was the international blockbuster The Bourne Supremacy.

In 2005 he was awarded the Alan Clarke Award for Outstanding Creative Contribution to Television at BAFTA.

Next Greengrass tackled 9/11 with his 2006 film United 93 which won him an Oscar nomination for Best Director as well as that years BAFTA for direction and numerous other awards. He returned to the helm for the next instalment of the Bourne series, Bourne Ultimatum. Which won three Oscars as well as huge commercial success.

Greengrass finished directing Green Zone a thriller set in post-war Baghdad starring Matt Damon, in 2009, which was released in 2010.

Cillian appears most recently in IN TIME, directed by Andrew Niccol, opposite Justin Timberlake, Olivia Wilde and Amanda Seyfried. In November, Cillian will be bringing, MISTERMAN, directed by Enda Walsh, a much acclaimed one man, theatre performance, from earlier this year, to St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York.

Cillian appeared in INCEPTION (Warner Bros.), a contemporary sci-fi thriller set within the architecture of the mind. The film, which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page, marks Cillian’s third collaboration with director Christopher Nolan. In 2005, Cillian made an indelible impression as Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow in BATMAN BEGINS and reprised the role in last year’s THE DARK KNIGHT.

Cillian first garnered international attention for his performance as the reluctant survivor, Jim, in Danny Boyle’s 28 DAYS LATER. Following BATMAN BEGINS, he starred opposite Rachel McAdams in Wes Craven’s hit thriller RED EYE and garnered a Golden Globe nomination for his performance as Patrick Kitten Brady in Neil Jordan’s BREAKFAST ON PLUTO. In Ken Loach’s 2006 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, Cillian portrayed a guerilla fighter who battles the British Black and Tan squads that attempt to thwart Ireland’s bid for independence. Cillian re-teamed with Boyle and writer Alex Garland (28 DAYS LATER) on SUNSHINE (2007), a thriller in which a group of scientists attempt to re-ignite a dying sun.

Cillian made his mark on stage with a stunning performance in Enda Walsh’s DISCO PIGS. After receiving commendations for Best Fringe Show at the 1996 Dublin Theatre Festival and the Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival 1997, DISCO PIGS went on to tour extensively in Ireland, the U.K., Canada and Australia. Murphy later starred in the film version directed by Kirsten Sheridan.

In 2006, Cillian made his West End debut at the New Ambassador Theatre in John Kolvenbach’s LOVE SONG, directed by John Crowley. His stage collaborations with Tony Award-winning director Garry Hynes include THE COUNTRY BOY, JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK, and PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD at the Gaity Theatre in Dublin. Murphy also starred as Konstantin in the Edinburgh Fest production of THE SEAGULL directed by Peter Stein, as Adam in Neil LaBute’s THE SHAPE OF THINGS at the Gate Theatre in Dublin and as Claudio in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.

Geoffrey Smith was born in Melbourne, Australia and was always fascinated by the moving image. Never at ease in “the lucky country” however, he went traveling to find himself and discovered en route a love of listening and storytelling.

In 1987 he found himself in Haiti helping to make to make a documentary about the first election there in 31 years, but following the discovery of a massacre of twenty one voters in a schoolyard, he was shot and wounded. Struggling to put his life back together in London, Geoffrey decided to film his journey back to Haiti to find the man who had so nearly killed him. This acclaimed film was subsequently shown on the BBC and was very powerful for the on screen catharsis it intimately portrayed.

Having discovered through this personal project that the camera could be a powerful tool in helping people through difficult periods in their lives, many of Geoffrey’s subsequent films are built around this approach. Winner of numerous awards, director of the acclaimed Emmy winning feature documentary “The English Surgeon” and co-director of “Presumed Guilty” which is transforming the Mexican legal system, Geoffrey has made over twenty two films and is drawn to observational real life dramas where deep ethical and moral dilemmas abound.

The Award Ceremony was the culmination of a week of films at Kerry Film Festival, which began on Saturday, October 29th. The winning films were selected by Kerry Film Festival’s illustrious adjudication panel which included Paul Greengrass, Cillian Murphy, Norton Virgien and Geoffrey Smith and by the KFF audience.

The adjudicators and audience had the unenviable task of selecting the best films from the festival with over five hundred films submitted to the 2011 Kerry Film Festival.

Here are the results…..

The Best Animated Short Film as adjudicated by Norton Virgien

THE LIFE, DEATH AND SUFFER STORY- Directed by Anna Fitzsimmons

Special Mention goes to Birdboy directed by Pedro Rivero

The Best Documentary Short as adjudicated by Geoffrey Smith
SCENT OF STRAWBERRIES – Directed by Guy Natanel

The Best Student Short as adjudicated by Grainne Humphreys, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival

THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE – Directed by Brian Dunsten

The Best Irish Narrative Short as adjudicated by Cillian Murphy

BULLDOG – Directed by Steve Earles

The Best Short Film / Director as adjudicated by Paul Greengrass

IT’S NATURAL TO BE AFRAID – Directed by Justin Doherty / Written by Neil Fox

The Audience Award

NEITZSCHE NO 5 – Directed by Shaun O’Connor

Kerry Film Festival is delighted to announce that the recipient of this years Maureen O’Hara Award for women who have excelled in the art of film, will be celebrated actress Fionnula Flanagan.

Described as one of the most varied actresses in film history Fionnula Flanagan has made an impact on the stage, in feature films, and on the small screen.  Most recently she appeared in The Guard with Brendan Gleeson and Dom Cheadle and is well known as the recurring character Eloise Hawking in ABC’s TV phenomenon Lost.

The intensity and variety of her work is evident in her remarkable filmography which includes feature films James Joyce’s Women, Ulysses, Waking Ned, A State of Emergency, Reflections, Final Verdict, the Academy Award winning In The Region of Ice and the critically acclaimed Some Mother’s Son, in which she starred with Helen Mirren.

‘I am delighted and very honoured to be invited to receive the Maureen O’Hara Award at the Kerry Film Festival 2011′ commented Flanagan. ‘It is fitting and generous of Maureen to lend her name to an award that acknowledges the work of actresses following in her footsteps, who are as passionate about film as she herself proved to be in her long and successful career as a true Hollywood film star. I am proud to be able to support the Kerry Film Festival since in these troubling economic times, not just for Ireland, but for the whole world, I believe it is important to keep the arts alive. It is the painters, the poets, the storytellers, the film makers who give us all a different way of looking at life, who remind us of our frailty, our longing, and our potential. However, of all the arts film is unique.  Through the lens of the camera we get to see the power contained in the mere raising of an eyebrow, the averting of the gaze, the smile suppressed, and we realize we are all members of the human family. Racially, culturally, politically, religiously, we are all different, and nuanced in our diversity. However, it is the intimate, indelible images captured by the film camera that offer us, seated together in the dark,  the sense memory and anticipation, deep in our DNA, of having our hearts broken. And that is how we know we are human. Perhaps it is the only proof we really have.

‘I will be thrilled to present Fionnula Flanagan with this year’s award at the Kerry Film Festival’, said Maureen O’Hara, ‘It’s a pleasure to honour such a remarkable actress who epitomises all that the award has come too represent over the last four years.’

Kerry Film Festival’s Maureen O’Hara Award, kindly sponsored by Killarney Crystal, acknowledges women who have excelled in film, being named in honour of O’Hara who is undoubtedly one of Hollywood’s best loved actresses.  Past recipients include Juliette Binoche, Rebecca Miller, and Brenda Fricker.

The award ceremony which takes place at Siamsa Tíre in Tralee at 2.00pm on November 5th, is the culmination of a week long celebration of film at the Kerry Film Festival with new Irish and international short film competitions, special feature screenings, workshops and events.  It will be hosted by radio and TV personality, Dave Fanning and will feature screenings of the winning short films as selected by this year’s illustrious adjudicators Paul Greengrass, Norton Virgien and Cillian Murphy.