Dragonfly takes top prize at Dinard

Talent of Tomorrow prize for director Daisy-May Hudson, for her first fiction feature Lollipop, alongside actress Posy Sterling at the Dinard awards ceremony Photo: Richard Mowe

Under stormy skies which caused the organisers of the 36th edition of the Dinard Festival of British and Irish Cinema to veto the traditional red carpet procession, the top prize of the Hitchcock d’Or for best film was bestowed on Dragonfly by Paul Andrew Williams.

Dragonfly director Paul Andrew Williams with his trophy alongside jury member Reda Kateb Photo: Courtesy of Dinard Festival of British and Irish Film

The performances of double Oscar-nominated Brenda Blethyn and Andrea Riseborough, who provided hypnotic accounts of their characters as two vulnerable souls on the edge - the kind of people who remain “invisible” in most quarters of society - snared the jury’s attention. It was headed this year by president Claire Chazal, who took over from Rupert Everett who had to depart for the UK almost as soon as he arrived after a family emergency at home. Alongside Chazal were Rachida Brakni, Molly Dineen, Reda Kateb, Ab Fab’s Jennifer Saunders and Ruby Wax.

Chazal suggested that the jury had been impressed generally by the quality of British and Irish acting talent on display which frequently had been formed on stage. In particular they praised Harry Lawtey for his portrayal of the young Richard Burton in Marc Evans’ Mr Burton. He was awarded the best acting prize. The film also found favour with the public who voted it the winner of the Audience Award.

The Special Jury Prize was awarded to the Icelandic co-production The Damned by Thordur Palsson with Jennifer Saunders praising its cinematography and sound design as Peaky Blinders’ Joe Cole plunges the viewer into a 19th century Icelandic fishing outpost, where a widow Eva is cursed after making a dramatic choice to not help a sinking ship off the coast and instead to let the crew perish.

The Talent of Tomorrow award was given to Daisy-May Hudson for her first fiction feature Lollipop about homelessness and motherhood made in the wake of her 2015 documentary Half Way. Lollipop actress Posy Sterling, who plays single mum Molly, also was present to share in the Dinard glory. For a director who was self-taught and never went to film school the prize and the reaction of French audiences to the film clearly was an emotional moment.

“This is the first time the film has been shown outside the UK. And to get a prize is nothing short of incredible,” said Hudson.

The audience award for best short was scooped by director Rhys Aaron Lewis, who promised the closing night audience that he would be back - with his first feature after receiving his award from The Full Monty director Peter Cattaneo. The director’s latest film The Penguin Lessons, with Steve Coogan, was the closing film.