The 52nd Corona Cork Film Festival closed last night to a packed house for the Irish premiere of Academy Award winner Ang Lee's latest film, Lust, Caution.
Festival director, Mick Hannigan, said while the final number had to be tallied, box office takings for the 300 features, documentaries and shorts were up 9 per cent on last year.
Mr Hannigan said the sponsorhip of the festival has allowed the event maintain technical standards. The productions costs of running an event such as the festival are increasing and the sponsorship has helped improve marketing and content.
Among the many highlights Mr Hannigan identified in this years festival were the question-and-answer sessions with leading directors such as American John Dahl and Algerian Merzak Allouache.
"I've just come from the world premiere of the Algerian film La Fille aux Tresseswhich, like all the Algerian screenings, was well-attended. Getting a world premiere is something that makes the festival attractive for audiences."
Mr Hannigan also identified the high quality of both Irish and local Cork documentaries and shorts, and said the festival's policy of encouraging such work was vindicated by the fact that a number of them, on foot on being shown in Cork, have been selected for other festivals.
Meanwhile, the Best International Short Film went to Israeli filmmaker, Rodeon Brodsky for his romantic drama Tolya, about a toothless immigrant calling home to his wife.
The Absolut Award for Best Irish Short Film went to Darren Thorton for his film Frankie, about a 15-year-old preparing for fatherhood.
The Claire Lynch Award for Best First-Time Director went to Keith Mannix for Death in the West, and Noel Twomey won the Irish ExaminerMade in Cork Award for Torture is Us.
Other winners included Cathal Watters for Rolla Saor, Nikolay Todorov for The Minutes After, Lisa Adler for Gero, Gerd and the Great, Steph Green for New Boyand Peter Foott for An Creatur.