FilmOffaly Short Film Award winner announced

Dara Fennema has been awarded the FilmOffaly Short Film Award for her script ‘How To Bury An Imaginary Friend’. The award is worth €12,000 towards production of the short film, which is due to shoot entirely on location in Offaly later in the year.

This surreal family drama centres around a chaotic young woman who accidentally reverses over her niece’s imaginary friend. She and her “perfect” older sister embark on an absurd road trip to bury the evidence, while dealing with their own complicated relationship.

“This project means a lot to me so it's a real privilege to get to share it with everyone.” said Dara.

The film will be produced by Joanna Kelly of One Productions and will be directed by Offaly-born actor and filmmaker Maura Foley, who said “Dara has written something so funny, heartfelt and original, and I’m really excited to work with the team to bring this uniquely strange and imaginative story to the screen.” Maura is no stranger to the FilmOffaly award, having acted in previous winner ‘Whale’ and winning the award herself for her debut film ‘Missing’.

The award was one of the first of its kind in Ireland and has been running since 2008. The first recipient of the award was Domhnall Gleeson for his film ‘Noreen, and since then the bursary has been granted to emerging filmmakers with original scripts. The main condition of the award is that the film must be 100% shot in Offaly, giving the county an opportunity to showcase its many filming locations, together with the benefits of using local crew and businesses.

FilmOffaly’s Darren Lee said: “The quality of entries this year was remarkably high, and it’s a real testament to the quality of ideas and imagination of Midlands filmmakers. We are very excited to be working with the team on this film and look forward to sharing it with the people of Offaly.”