Celtic Media Festival reveals the nominees for landmark 40th anniversary awards
BBC Scotland, BBC Alba and Scottish Hollywood Superstar compete internationally as Scotland receives over 30 nominations for the 2019 Festival
The Celtic Media Festival has today (Tuesday 2nd April) revealed the names for its esteemed Torc Awards For Excellence. The winners are set to be announced at the 40th Festival this 4th – 6th of June in the historic setting of Aviemore, Scotland.
Nominees from across the UK, Ireland and Europe will compete across 23 award categories including arts, comedy, current affairs, drama, factual, sport and radio.
In Best Comedy, the much loved and critically acclaimed Scots sitcom Two Doors Down (BBC Two) centres on a couple and their overbearing, overpowering and over-present neighbours.
Disclosure: Suffer the Children (BBC Scotland on One) is nominated in Best Current Affairs. Here multi RTS Scotland Award winning BBC investigative journalist Mark Daly investigates allegations of sexual and physical abuse across four decades at a Christian children’s home in Argyll. He hears the untold stories of former residents who say they were systematically abused throughout their childhoods by adults who were meant to care for them. And Daly challenges the Sailors’ Society charity that ran the home on whether it has done enough for those who continue to suffer through the legacy of abuse.
In Best Single Drama, The Party’s Just Beginning (Mt. Hollywood Films) is written and directed by Scottish Hollywood superstar Karen Gillian. Set in the Highlands, a girl suffers the suicide of her best friend which spirals her into a mid-twenty’s crisis. Witty and sarcastic, her manner is rapid and quick fire. She finds it difficult to connect with others - if only someone could hear her hilarity. She forms relationships with various men in attempts to find herself again. None of them give her the answers she needs and ultimately, she is left to confront herself, and what's truly haunting her.
Over in Best Sports Documentary, the BAFTA Scotland winning Scotland’ 78: A Love Story (BBC One) revisits the summer of 1978, revealing bittersweet stories behind Scotland's World Cup campaign, exploring the compelling character of manager Ally McLeod and how a nation's confidence rested on his ill-fated army.
And the battle for Radio Presenter of the Year begins, with Kaye Adams from BBC Radio Scotland nominated. Mornings with Kaye Adams, is the first opportunity and only place for people across Scotland to come together and discuss the big talking points each day. It delves beyond the headlines and shines a light on incredible people, extraordinary stories and sparky opinions from all across the country with a unique Scottish perspective
The Scottish Nominees will be up against a cast of international production including from Wales: Best Drama Series, critically acclaimed and Bafta Cymru award winning Un Bore Mercher (S4C) is nominated; Best Single Drama, acclaimed poet Owen Sheers takes us on a journey with The NHS: To Provide All People (BBC Wales / BBC 2), Best Factual Entertainment, Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience (TG4) sees the award winning stand-up comedian Rhod Gilbert drop the mic and try out real jobs for a funny dose of work experience and from Ireland: Best Current Affairs, RTÉ Prime Time - Carers in Crisis (RTÉ One) focuses on highlighting the lack of care available for home carers in Ireland; Best Factual Entertainment The Rotunda (RTÉ2) tells the story of the world’s longest running maternity hospital; Best Comedy, a hotly contested category, nominees include ‘Northern Ireland’s newest comedy hit’ Soft Border Control (BBC Northern Ireland) and Best Factual Series, No Country for Women (RTÉ One) is a landmark series exploring Irish women’s lives since achieving the vote 100 years ago.
Entries for the for the 2019 Awards surpassed the 500 mark with the festival consistently attracting a wealth of supremely talented submissions from across the range of Celtic Nations and regions.
38 jurors undertook 15 meetings across 600 hours of listening and viewing to produce the shortlist of 121 nominees that showcases the very best in Celtic productions in the last year.
For the first time this year, the Celtic Media Festival has introduced the Short-Form category which will honour the best of the small but mighty successes in an area of media that has become more prevalent in recent years. Productions of all genres, up to and including 15 minutes in duration, were welcomed to apply with an incredible array of talent doing so. BBC Three has garnered an impressive 2 nominations with The Break III - A Vocal Minority and When Heroin Took My Dad.
Catriona Logan, Festival Director, said: “We are so delighted to announce the nominees for Celtic Media Festival 2019, the quality of the nominees is a true testament to the incredible work being produced across the Celtic nations & regions. The amount of entries this year surpassed expectations, in particular the new Short-Form category which shows how much the industry is changing and how far we’ve come. We are so excited to welcome everybody to the 40th anniversary of the Celtic Media Festival.”
You can view the full list of nominees for the 40th edition of Celtic Media Festival here: https://bit.ly/2FQSLXb
The CMF is an annual 3-day event that promotes the languages and cultures of the Celtic Nations and Regions in media. This year the festival will celebrate its 40th edition in the scenic setting of Aviemore, combining a major conference of seminars and master classes with presentation of coveted prizes in an international competition across all the main content genres in TV, radio, film and digital media.